Viper's Nest
by Lunare Valhart
Summary: Be wary of where you tread, for serpents lurk underfoot. In light of a cheesy tabloid, the world finds itself balancing on the thin line between truth and treachery. [Revamp. Kaitaka, et al.]
1. Where There's Smoke

_Yes, this is **exactly** what it looks like._

_After well over a year's worth of mentally beating myself up for such a lousy end to the original, occasionally getting a "What the heck?" review from people who stumble across it, I have finally decided to make an effort to redeem myself and revamp this, what I had originally hoped when I wrote it all those months ago, my crowning achievement._

_For starters, the story no longer connects to Forever and Always – it now has its own timeline, its own backstory, and a whole new cast of characters._

_While old characters (like Sonbre and Kasumi) return in the revamped version, others have been removed for better plot flow. In addition, new characters have come into play, replacing the need for too many extras. I'm not going to give anymore away, so you'll just have to keep reading to discover the changes._

_Though I must add, as a side note, that the current outline makes this a **long** piece of work. I will update on my own schedule, not yours. So, bugger off._

_

* * *

_

Viper's Nest

Written by Lunare Valhart  
_Batuken Shoot Beyblade_ and all its original characters are © Aoki Takao  
All unfamiliar original characters are © Lunare Valhart, and are not to be used without permission

* * *

_**Prologue: Where There's Smoke…**_

To be completely honest, Hiromi Tatibana had no idea _what_ was going through the American press's mind when she saw the article.

Her English teacher had assigned a current events project, forcing everyone to search the internet to look through English-speaking news sites to find an article and summarize it, in English and Japanese. Most of the class went the easy way and looked for articles on Japan, halving their work effort; Hiromi, being a more eager student, decided to simply scan all the articles for what looked interesting.

And not related to blade-tops or whatever they were called.

She knew she should've figured there would be articles on a certain loud-mouthed classmate of hers; that much was obvious by the amount of reporters soon after he returned to Japan (to her relief, they had recently tapered off). But she had no idea how _close-minded_ the people overseas were. Until this lit up her home computer screen:

WORLD CHAMPION AND TEAM CAPTAIN: UNDERCOVER?

And an obvious candid shot of the bluenette she saw every school day of her life dragging a vaguely amused older youth by the hand. In Russia, if the architecture was anything to go by.

The article went on about how neither showed much interest in anything but each other, how the younger boy was always trying to find some excuse to be by the older one, how the older boy made a vague comment that the other boy was a lifesaver… Suddenly, she remembered why she hardly participated in her friends' gossip; this was nauseating, how utterly stupid it sounded!

"I could write a paper on this," she grumbled as the article went on with an "expert" opinion about the parallels between Japanese mythology and the boys' bit-beasts—whatever _those_ were. "Ignorance of Americans: Why Culture Classes are a Necessity. Honestly, aren't two guy friends are allowed hold hands? And what's this nonsense about saying that their histories _enforce_ their homosexuality? Just because this "Kai" grew up in an all-boys abbey and Tyson's family lineage goes into the feudal era with samurai?"

She rolled her eyes and went to another site, pushing all thoughts of the article out of her mind as she looked for something of more interest to her.

Tabloids… sheesh.

…

Several blocks down, another youth with the same project only smiled thoughtfully as he glanced over the item, taking more amusement out of it rather than disgust.

"If only they knew," Tyson laughed as he glanced over to the picture on his desk, the smiling faces of five young boys (some less than others) behind glass peering back at him. His bright eyes softened as he looked at one of them in particular, the youth's somewhat hesitant smile causing Tyson to sport one, as well. He shook off the somewhat sappy thoughts beginning to flood his brain and went back to goofing off on the web.

He already had his article done, and was pleased with the result. Maybe—for once—his slavedriver of a class president would finally leave him alone about his work ethics. It wasn't as if he _didn't_ get his work done… he just saw little reason to keep nitpicking at it.

Not that he _wanted_ to annoy her, or anything; she just had a short fuse.

A chirp from his computer caught his attention, signaling the arrival of an e-mail. Tyson started to snicker again when he saw it was from Kenny, ranting on about the very same tabloid he had been looking at moments before. The little bespectacled boy was the only other person, besides Kai and himself, who knew the truth behind that article. Actually, it was his doing. He had locked the two in the hotel room they shared on stopover to Japan, refusing to let them out until they admitted to one another. Neither were very happy with the short brunette when they finally realized his intentions.

They would've told each other on their own. Eventually.

He did agree with him on some aspects, though. Some of the things they tried to justify their argument with were just plain ridiculous. Honestly, using Victorian matchmaking methods just because their eyes were complementing colors and their personalities were so different? Either some people were looking too much into it or they weren't in the best mental state when they wrote the thing.

Yes, he _did_ think fondly of the older boy, as Kai did with him. But they both knew they were still too young to be sure it was _that…_

No matter how much it seemed like it. No matter how badly that hidden part of him wanted to embrace it.

…

Far on the other side of the globe, another cried.


	2. Just Another Day

_LV: Well, this is interesting – I get almost as many reviews on the _prologue_ of a rewrite than I do on a so-far three-chapter story. Interesting.  
Aya: Huzzah! See, you bully? People _do_ like me!  
LV: ...Stay outta my secret stash and can it._

_I must admit as a side-note: Kai's part of this chapter stung to write. -shudders- I feel so dirty for writing those things..._

_

* * *

_Viper's Nest

Written by Lunare Valhart

_Batuken Shoot Beyblade_ and all its original characters are © Aoki Takao

All unfamiliar original characters are © Lunare Valhart, and are not to be used without permission

* * *

_**Chapter 1: Just Another Day**_

The school bell rang clear, causing straggling students to scatter about and rush to their classrooms. Groups of friends waved their farewells to each other, couples made quick promises to meet again at lunch at "their" spot (which was also the spot of many of the school's _other_ couples—not that they cared), the lazier students continued to revel in their tardiness until the gym teacher stormed over to drag them to class.

And, as usual, Tyson was late.

"Where is he?" Kenny groaned as the clock's face beamed innocently at him, ticking away the seconds his dark-haired friend had left before yet another after-school cleaning was added to his ever-growing list, "Always late, always cocky, always pig-headed…"

Hiromi, a few seats ahead of him, smiled impishly. "I could add plenty to that list, you know."

"Yeah, so can he to yours." She scowled at him. "Sorry, Tatibana-san, it's just that he's going to be late, again. If this keeps up, he won't have enough school hours to be allowed into the next set of tournaments, World Champion or not."

The girl simply rolled her eyes. "I don't see what's so great about that dumb game, anyways."

"I wouldn't let Tyson hear you say that," Kenny warned, glancing at the door. "Besides, beyblading is more complicated than you think." Hiromi scoffed.

"Oh, please: it's a top, it spins, first one to fall over loses." She yawned, "If that's supposed to be complicated, the world as we know it is doomed."

Kenny gave her an annoyed look.

The sudden rush of footfalls in the hallway alerted the waiting students, as the one closest to the door pulled out a stopwatch. Seconds later, a very disheveled Tyson darted through the classroom door, eyes wild and chest heaving.

The student with the stopwatch clicked it as the bell rang a second time, signaling the late bell. "Wow." He turned to the class. "Point five-three seconds!" He called out, an applause breaking out over the room. Other students groaned, handing over money and complaining about having no lunch for the rest of the week.

Kenny and Hiromi only stared incredulously at their classmates.

Kincaid-sensei, a gentle woman by nature and quite compassionate, looked at the weary bluenette youth with concern. "Kinomiya-san, are you all right?"

"Yeah, Tyson!" One of the other boys snickered, "What kept you this time? Your alarm clock went on strike, again?" A round of laughter sounded at the snide remark.

The exhausted boy gulped down precious oxygen and heaved a sigh, finally having caught his breath. "I'm okay, Kincaid-sensei," he answered his teacher first before turning to his classmates with a scowl. "And I was almost late because of the stinkin' press, not because of that defective alarm!"

Hiromi snorted. "The press, _again?_" She shook her head in exasperation. "Tyson, we know you're "world famous" now or whatever, but blaming the media for everything isn't going to work!"

"Um... Actually, Hiromi," a meek voice corrected as one of the quieter students pointed to the window, "I don't think he's kidding."

The students, eager to see what was going on, crowded around the window to see their gruff gym teacher pushing out a protesting reporter and his camera-crew towards a larger group congregating outside the school gates.

"But it's for the public!"

"His fans have a right to know!"

"You people've caused enough trouble around here these past few weeks! Out!"

"One little interview is all I'm asking!"

"No, now get out!"

Another television station's reporter tried to slip past. "Now, sir, we can think of some arrangement, hm? Any odd behavior from him? Anything at all?"

"I could care less about the love lives of my students, much less a famous one! Now get off school property before the front office calls the authorities!"

"But—"

"_Out!_"

The students stared blankly at the scene. Kenny gave Tyson a questioning look.

"It's that stupid article from the US!" He cried, throwing his hands in the air, "Somehow, they caught wind of it, liked it, and are now hounding me to get some real information!" Several of the girls perked up at the mention of the article, eyes bright.

"You mean the one about you and Hiwatari-sama?"

"Ooh, you two would be _so_ cute together!"

"It's just like a fairytale-come-true!"

"Oh, yeah! The Blue Dragon and the Red Phoenix: one and forever, at last!"

"So romantic!"

They all sighed dreamily. Tyson, thoroughly disturbed, inched away slowly. He heard a small snicker escape from his bespectacled friend, and glowered at him with a look that said not to breathe a word. Wisely, Kenny kept his mouth shut.

"Wait a second…" A voice growled, and everyone turned to see Hiromi with her arms folded across her chest with an infuriated look on her features. "You mean to say that we've just wasted a good ten minutes of class time making bets on Tyson's tardiness, Tyson explaining _why_ he was late ("He was on time by point five-three seconds!" The stopwatch kid reiterated.), watching Coach Yamamoto force the press off school property—_again_—and listening to you blabbermouths go on about some stupid fated romance nonsense… all because of a stupid tabloid that some ignorant American journalist sprouted?"

The class winced, weak affirmatives coming from various students. The brunette's frustration peaked. "I can't believe you people! We're here to pave our paths into the world, and you're all just gossiping! Maybe I'm the only sane person here, but I'd like to come here to learn, okay? Or do none of you care about your futures? Do none of you care that with all this nonsense, you get closer and closer to a failing grade? And when your parents get upset, what'll you do? Blame the school! It isn't the school's fault you're all becoming failures; it's your own!"

"You're not helping much," Tyson muttered under his breath, dully noting another few minutes had passed while the class president was ranting. Her rage immediately turned on him.

"And you!" She jabbed a finger into the blue-haired boy's chest. "For reasons I don't have a clue, _you_ seem to be connected to every single problem this school has!"

"Hey, I had nothing to do with the gelatin incident last week!" He protested, "I'd never waste good sweets like that!"

"That's not the point!" She shot back, throwing her arms into the air, "The point is that you are nothing but trouble! Kincaid-sensei can't handle you alone!"

The aforementioned teacher, who had taken the time to catch up on her reading, started at the mention of her name. "Huh?"

"Don't worry, ma'am!" Hiromi declared, rolling up her sleeves as she began to stomp towards the door, "I know _just_ the teacher to control this wise guy!"

The class was silent when she left. Shrugging, most of the students started to chat amongst themselves, paying no heed to the foreboding glint the brunette girl's eyes had.

One of the girls cooing over the article earlier came back to Tyson, a wide grin on her face and a notepad in hand. "So, Tyson, what's this about you and the untouchable Hiwatari Kai?"

The bluenette groaned, falling into his seat. "No one's going to let this drop, are they?" The girl grinned impishly.

"Not on _my_ watch!" Her grin turned feral. "You forget, dear Kinomiya-kun, that I happen to have a passion for things like this. You can evade the official press all you want, but getting rid of _this_ school reporter is a completely different matter!"

Tyson paled at the implication. "You mean… You're a—?"

"Now talk and give me the juicy details, or I make them up! And trust me," she cackled, "my imagination _isn't_ something you want to deal with…"

The boy groaned, letting his head drop onto his desk. Of all the unlucky coincidences, having a yaoi otaku as his school reporter had to be topping the list.

The door opened again, and the students looked lazily at the door. Upon seeing Hiromi's promised controller, many yelped and rushed into their seats, sitting ramrod straight and whimpering quietly.

"Here we are, Coach Yamamoto!" The brown-eyed girl chirped, the morbid amusement unhidden from her classmates, "I'm so glad you could help!"

"Not a problem, Tatibana-san," the gruff man answered off-handedly, eyeing any possible trouble-makers. "I shouldn't have too many problems with this bunch. Please take your seat, so we can begin." Obediently, the brunette sat down at her seat, ignoring the heated looks sent her way. "Now... Listen up! I will not tolerate speaking of any kind, unless I call on you, by name! Dion!"

Kenny squeaked, staring at the solidly-built man towering over the class fearfully. "Y-yes, sir...?"

"That's Yamamoto-sensei to you, Dion! Staring at that computer of yours all the time's frying your brain; I don't want to see it! Clear!"

"Yes, Yamamoto-sensei!" He yelped, sitting up straighter. The coach nodded sharply.

"As for the rest of you slackers...!"

Tyson groaned mentally, along with the rest of the class. '_Today is going to be one of those days..._'

…

"One of those days, indeed!" Kenny fumed when he and Tyson were sitting at their usual spot for lunch, "I can't believe we had to deal with Coach Yamamoto today!"

Tyson sighed, picking at his rice, "I know. Man, I didn't know all of this was annoying Hiromi so much! She's only called the coach in once before, and that was when we came back from the Asian Tournament!"

"Well, I understood it, then," the short boy admitted with a faint blush of embarrassment. "The press was after you, the class kept coming up to us to ask how China was like, lunch became its own veritable beystadium because of all the kids trying to battle you…"

"It was chaotic," Tyson agreed, thoughtfully chewing at his food. He swallowed, then grinned. "But hey, I liked the attention!"

Kenny gave him a look. "When _don't_ you?" The bright look on the slightly older boy's face faded as Tyson continued to poke at his food.

"Now," He grumbled, idly picking up a stray rice grain, "I don't mind the spotlight at all, really. I just don't want people poking their noses into my private life."

"That's the price of fame, Tyson," Kenny said quietly as the bluenette continued to stab his food. "Every star deals with tabloids, at some point of their career. …Some more than others."

"Hey, what's _that_ supposed to—?"

Tyson's indignant remark was cut off when something fell from the tree they were sitting under, startling both boys to scrambling away. That something was holding a notepad and a tape recorder.

Tyson groaned, slapping his forehead. "You really aren't going to leave me alone, are you?"

The school reporter, apparently unfazed by her fall, sprung up on her feet and into a surprised Kenny's face. "So, Kenny, how much do you know about Tyson's secret affair with your team captain, hm? Does Tyson's feminine masculinity make him bear the brunt of Kai's needs, or does the tough and icy leader need warm lovin' from his light in the darkness?"

Both boys flushed heavily at the basic question being asked: Who's on top?

"No comment!" Kenny squeaked, inching away from the ecstatic reporter, "I know nothing!"

"And I'm not feminine!" Tyson huffed, "Yeesh, no one calls Rei feminine, and he's got that long rope of his to care for! Why is it always _me_!"

"People call Rei girly," the reporter shrugged nonchalantly. "Most of them just happen to be in the West, and people there aren't used to seeing a guy with hair that long."

"That doesn't explain why people call _me_ girly!"

Kenny and the girl looked at each other cluelessly. Sheepishly, she answered, "Got me. Feminine was one of the first words I could think of, at the moment. Hee!"

Tyson glared at her. "I hate you."

As he attempted to stalk away, the reporter became panicked and chased after him. "Wait, Kinomiya-kun! Wait up, I need the info! I need my shounen-ai, dangit!"

"Gah! Leave me alone, already!"

Kenny stared after them with a faint twitch under his eye and a large bead of sweat on the back of his head.

…

On the other side of town, Kai was going through his usual day. Classes took their time, his math teacher lectured him again over not writing out the problems, the majority of his classmates gave him respectable space in the hallways and at lunch...

"Oh, it's Hiwatari-sempai!"

"He's so handsome…"

"Kami-sama, I wonder who the lucky girl will be?"

"I hope it's me!"

"Yeah, right! Don't you have a boyfriend?"

"Hiwatari-sempai's _much_ better than my insensitive boyfriend!"

...and, of course, his least favorite part of his routine day: the crooning fangirls.

Several young males were glowering at him, he could tell. It happened every day; he'd walk by, their girlfriends would start swooning over him, they'd get sulky for a while. He didn't care, though. No one here was interesting enough.

Then again, the only person who had ever interested him went to another school.

He thought back to that morning, where their news-loving Social Sciences teacher had the in-class television set to his favorite station. To the class's—and especially his—astonishment, the retreating figure of the Beyblading World Champion was seen, ducking into side streets and alleyways to evade the news cameras. The winded reporter was attempting to explain the predicament.

"_World Champion Tyson Kinomiya is rumored to have a secret. Perhaps he is hiding something the world and his fans should know? We are trying to find out, but apparently, being weighed down by cameras and microphones to his lighter backpack makes this task somewhat difficu—Hey, watch the head, you lummox! I can't interview the kid with a concussion!_"

Half the class had dissolved into fits of laughter, while others who were eager to hear more of the story groaned in disappointment when the gruff teacher started shoving the cameramen and reporters off the public school property. Others, still, scoffed at the nosiness of the media, only watching the broadcast to avoid getting in trouble.

Kai, however, had been worried. '_What could make them suspect Tyson's hiding something? What if... they know?_'

Then, the answer came when the reporter, however reluctantly, returned attention back to the studio. The anchors pulled up an American magazine, where the front cover had a picture of Tyson, laughing and slightly winded, holding someone's hand.

_His_ hand.

He recognized what had been going on in the photo. At the time, the team was trying to meet the adults at a quaint little restaurant in Moscow, which could be faintly seen in the background. Tyson was eager to spend time with his father, and Kai was the only one in the group who could understand Russian. The rest of the team had been a few paces behind them. Of course, the press didn't need to tell the public that last part...

Damn the media.

"Hey, ladies!" One of the sulking boys suddenly called out. Kai recognized him from his morning class, and suddenly had a sense of foreboding. "Didn't you hear? Apparently, Hiwatari's gay!"

Oh yeah, bad news.

Some of the girls stared at him for a moment and walked off in a huff, but to his surprise, a good fraction of them still stared at him adoringly. Some, even _more_ adoringly.

"Hiwatari-sempai… gay? I've died and gone to heaven!"

"Yes! Maybe I can convince my boyfriend to go out with him!"

"Not if I can get my brother to do it, first!"

"No! I'll get a sex-change operation, and I'll have him to myself!"

"Hey, I saw him first!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

The boys, Kai included, looked at the congregated group of girls with disbelieving expressions.

"Hey, quit arguing!" One of the girls suddenly snapped, "It's obvious Hiwatari-sempai doesn't want you, your boyfriends, or your relatives!"

Another girl pouted, "Then what else could he possibly want?"

"One of his acquaintances, of course!" The declaration was followed by several bursts of agreement.

"Of course! His beloved kitten from China is his comforting thought as he sleeps at night!"

"No way; that guy has a girlfriend! The bright smile of that half-American cutie is what warms him!"

"That kid? He flirts with girls too much! It's that icy redhead in Moscow that ignites him!"

"No, Hiwatari-sempai's icy exterior is melted by the wild nature of that redheaded Scot!" At _that_ particular one, Kai felt a twitch below his eye flare up.

"I can't believe you people." One of the quieter girls grumbled, "Isn't it obvious? It's the ever-forgiving dragon that he admires." The other girls stared at her. "What, none of you ever pay attention to symbolism? Besides, if anybody's been paying attention to the world, you'd notice this—" She waved a printed copy of the infamous tabloid about. "—has been circling around."

The other girls were silent for a moment, then promptly returned to their bickering.

"No, I'm right!"

"No, me!"

"You're all stupid! I'm the only ones with brains, here!"

"How dare you!"

Eventually, the bickering escalated into pulling hair, scratching each other's faces, and all sorts of painful things. The lone girl not fighting over it rolled her eyes and stalked off, grumbling about the idiocy of lovesick teenagers.

And while Kai was glad they weren't hounding _him_ for the answers, he couldn't help but wonder…

Just how badly was Tyson taking it?

…

Tyson darted through his front gate, immediately grabbing a shinai and holding it defensively in front of him.

"For the hundredth time," he growled at the wary news reporter and the equally nervous cameraman behind him, "I am not going to give you an interview! Now get off my property!"

"But, Kinomiya-san…"

"Get out, or I'm calling my gym teacher!"

That threat made both newscasters pale and run off, whimpering at the thought of the steely glower of Coach Yamamoto.

Sighing in relief, Tyson stepped into the house. "Gramps! I'm home!"

A faint rustle to his right caused him to glance briefly in that direction. Too bad for him, the blow came from the left.

"Ya need ta keep _all_ eyes open, T-man!" The elder scolded as he pulled back the bamboo training sword, placing the tip on the ground and leaning against it like a cane as his grandson rubbed his aching head, "Ya'd think that with all this hubbub over you and that cap'n of yours, you'd figure that out, by now!"

Tyson, despite his headache, flushed hotly. "Gramps... Where did you hear that?"

The elderly man threw his head back in a loud guffaw, "Li'l dude, it's all _over_ the place! So, when were ya gonna tell old Grandpa 'bout it, hm?"

Dark blue eyes narrowed in indignant embarrassment. "Grandpa, there's nothing _to_ tell! Kai and I aren't an item!"

"Ya ain't foolin' this one, kiddo!" The Kinomiya elder tutted, "Ever since you two came back from Russia, something's changed. It's subtle, but there. Even if you two aren't an item yet, you'll soon be. So, don't fight the love, little man!"

Tyson groaned, "Everywhere I go, someone's telling me how to handle my love life…" He walked off towards his room, grumbling about needing to clean up before practice.

The old man's cheery voice called out after him, "That's 'cause your happiness is all we ask of you!"

Tyson froze in the doorway, giving his grandfather a disturbed look over his shoulder. "That's it. Next time Dad asks if we want to help him analyze weird ghost stories that get turned into musicals, you don't get involved!"

Stalking off towards his shower, he heard the hearty laughter of his grandfather follow him.

…

The steam hissed as the shower door opened, clouding up the bathroom. Grabbing his bathrobe and slipping on the fresh set of underwear, he walked with an odd spring in his step.

Not too surprisingly, the hot shower had done plenty to ease Tyson's weariness from the day's activities. He was even humming some tune he didn't even know the words to, just to set his mind back into the cheerful pace it normally was in.

The second Tyson entered his room, however, he felt something was off.

Narrowing his eyes, he lifted his damp hair out of the way to get a better scope of the room. The bookshelf was in place, his bed wasn't rumpled, his closet door was still open… But his desk chair was pushed out.

He _knew_ he hadn't pulled it out yet.

Ducking down to look under the desk, he was greeted by the sight of a sheepish-looking girl holding his open journal in one hand and a small camera in the other.

"_You!_"

"Hiya, Kinomiya-kun!" The school reporter chirped, taking another picture of the page's entry. Tyson fumed, though baffled as to how the girl got into his room in the first place. "Oh, and your grandpa let me in. He's a pretty nice guy, you know that?"

Mentally, Tyson made a note to rant at the old man later. Right now, he had more important things to worry about.

"Who gave you permission to go through my stuff?"

The reporter waved him off casually. "Tyson, the first rule of successful journalism is to forget little things like that. It's too much red tape, going through formalities; I could lose the story!"

"You're going to lose more than that if you don't leave my house, ASAP!" The bluenette growled. The girl didn't respond, only looking at the boy with vague interest.

"Nice underpants, by the way," she commented offhandedly, noting Tyson's face went from angry red to a darker shade of embarrassment. "I have to ask; did your lover boy get 'em for you?"

"How I get my underwear is none of your business!" He barked indignantly, tightening the robe around his body, "Now get out of my house!"

She grinned cheerily, closing the journal and crawling out from underneath the desk. "Only if you give me that interview!" Grudgingly, Tyson nodded. She cheered, "Yes! I got an interview, I got an interview!"

"Now, give me _that_—" He snatched his journal from the young reporter. "—and get out of my room so I can change!"

She saluted smartly. "Yes sir, Kinomiya-sama!" With that, she bounced out of the bluenette's room, eager to begin.

Quickly pulling on a clean shirt and jeans, then grabbing his lucky cap, Tyson snickered at the girl's gullibility. "Heh, sucker." He slipped out the window, ducking out of the yard and onto the street.

Unfortunately, she caught sight of his cap as she waited on the porch. "What? Oh, that little—! Get back here, you!"

…

"Hi, Mrs. Dion!" Tyson called out as he darted into the noodle shop his brunette friend lived, "I'm just going to Kenny's room! Don't mind me!"

The woman blinked in surprise. So did several customers.

"Chief, you gotta help me!" Tyson cried as he shut the door, startling the young boy, "It won't leave me alone!"

Kenny glanced over at his bluenette friend and sighed, "And you call yourself the World Champion?" Tyson scowled.

"Beyblades and that—that _thing_ are two different things! She snuck into my room to see if I had written anything about Kai in my journal!" Kenny sweatdropped.

"Are you serious?" Tyson nodded vigorously. "Hm. So she _is_ as stubborn as they say…"

"Kenny, you're not helping!" Tyson whined, "I don't know what to do!"

Kenny shrugged, "You could ask Kai to glare at her? It normally works."

Tyson gave him a flat look. "Chief, Kai's all the way across town. If I go to the guy, then either the _real_ press will find out and have a field day, or _she_ finds out and goes even crazier!" Kenny stared at him for a moment before answering.

"For once, I'm glad to be in the background, and not your shoes."

"Hey!"

A small beep from the computer saved the short brunette. "Oh, look! An e-mail from Max!" Tyson gave him a dark look.

"If he says _anything_ about that dumb tabloid, I'm committing _hara-kiri_."

Kenny rolled his eyes at the taller boy. "Oh, relax, Tyson; it's just gossip!"

"Just read the stupid e-mail, already."

"Okay, okay… Sheesh." He opened the digital mailbox, both of them looking at the computer screen to see what their half-American friend overseas had to say.

-  
"Hey, guys! Hope you two are doing all right back in Japan. New York's fun, but Mom's a bit paranoid. (Read: Try "very"—she got me pepper spray!) I got to meet up with an old friend who moved here a few years back, and we're getting along fine. I'd ask if you guys are training, but since I know Kai's in Japan, I don't think I need to. I'm busy building up my skills with the AllStarz, so you can tell Kai not to worry about me. Mom says I can fly over on my Spring break, so I guess I'll see you then!

P.S.: Sorry 'bout that tabloid going around, Tyson! It'll blow over soon enough!"  
-

Tyson threw his hands into the air. "He said it! See you on the other side, Kenny; I'm going home to say bye to Gramps."

Kenny growled and grabbed the back of Tyson's shirt, preventing him from leaving. "Now, you're just being overdramatic! Would you just calm down for a minute and listen!"

The navy-eyed boy gave him a look. "I'm listening."

"Tyson, I know this is getting ridiculous, considering we only just saw the article yesterday, but it'll pass! Once the media gets tired of picking at your love life, they'll leave you and Kai alone. Then, you scaredy-cats can wait until both of you feel comfortable enough to tell everyone else about the two of you."

With wide, watery eyes, Tyson smiled weakly at his old friend. "Aw… Chief…"

Without missing a beat, the short ginger-brunette added dryly, "Besides, how am I going to explain to Kai you gutted yourself over a gossip column?"

The sentiment of the moment lost, Tyson fell over in disbelief.


	3. The Simple Things

_Aya: -singing- Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Lunie! Happy birthday to you!_

_LV: …Thanks. I guess._

_Mana: How old are you now?_

_LV: To quote my brother, "old enough to be put into big-boy prison."_

_All: … -sweatdrop-_

_CL: Your brother's a dork. A really _disturbed_ dork._

_Sonbre: Lunare's birthday is today? How unsettling, my two least favorite days fall together this year…_

_LV: Hey! I thought Kai's birthday was your least favorite!_

_Sonbre: True as that is, I am pretty sure that if you weren't such a blueblood supporter of Tyson and _that_ freak, I'd be the one paired up with him all the time!_

_Kai: -frowns- Pot calling the kettle black. Haven't you ever looked in the mirror?_

_Tyson: -gets between them- Hey you two, let LV have some peace and quiet on her birthday!_

_LV: Thank you, Tyson. And here's my gift to you all!_

_(And as an added bonus, look up the underlined word in this chapter - I found it qute amusing.)_

* * *

Viper's Nest

Written by Lunare Valhart

_Batuken Shoot Beyblade_ and all its original characters are © Aoki Takao

All unfamiliar original characters are © Lunare Valhart, and are not to be used without permission

* * *

_**Chapter 2: The Simple Things**_

Just later that afternoon, Kai found himself finally out of his private school's uniform and walking down the familiar street to his teammate's home. The newscasters seemed determined to find out something, as one or two stations had attempted to approach him earlier, but a threatening glower had quickly dispersed them. Now he was _really _worried about his… friend. He knew Tyson had trouble getting people to leave him alone when they wanted something.

That was why he was so surprised to see absolutely no reporters and journalists crowded around the dojo.

"Strange…" He glanced around warily, not really trusting his first impression and taken off-guard by the silence. Still nothing.

A faint rustling to the side caught his attention, and he managed a glimpse of the end of a sandy-colored ponytail darting up and down the street muttering about irritating peers and low-down sneaks. Kai stared flatly. That was… interesting.

"Hey there, kiddo!" The Kinomiya elder's crackled voice greeted warmly as the old man waved at him from the garden, decked out in (strangely enough) appropriately-patterned gloves and equipment.

Kai sighed, mentally smiling softly to himself; good old Tyson's grandfather. "Good afternoon, sir."

Mock-seriously, the elder shook his spade at him. "Enough with that crazy "sir" stuff, dawg. It ain't right for a dude your age ta be so uptight." He then grinned, making it clear where Tyson had inherited his infectious smile from. "Speakin' of dudes, T-bone's off hidin' at the noodle house. Think he was runnin' from the gal that was by earlier…"

"Girl?" Kai repeated suspiciously. Tyson's grandfather shrugged.

"Said she was with the school paper, but looked a might bit cheerful for the job. Guess the li'l dude's scared of her, the way he vamoosed when she caught him sneakin' out."

"I see." He bowed his head respectfully and turned to leave. "Thank you for your help. Have a good afternoon, sir."

But Kai still had one question in mind:

'_Why on Earth would a _school_ reporter be hounding Tyson…?_'

…

"Good afternoon, Kai," Mrs. Dion greeted cheerfully as he entered the restaurant, the door chime tinkling at his arrival. "Kenny and Tyson are upstairs, in Kenny's room."

Kai nodded his thanks to her, passing the customers as he trudged up the steps to the team strategist's bedroom. He could hear the younger of the pair's higher voice, exasperated about something or other, while Tyson's cheerier tone brushed off some sort of rebuttal Kenny must've made. He made his presence known, rapping his knuckles against the hard wooden door.

"Kinomiya! Dion!" He barked gruffly, satisfied to hear them yelp and scramble for the door. He stepped back in time for Kenny to open the door, Tyson standing just over his shoulder with one of his trademark grins.

Kenny greeted, "Hello, Kai. Sorry you had to make this detour, but we'll explain it later…"

"Hey, Kai!" Tyson chirped cheerfully, "Great to see you, again!"

"We saw each other yesterday, Tyson," Kai sighed, but the amused look never left his garnet eyes. "You're worse than a dog."

"Wait," Kenny blinked. "We didn't have training yesterday…" It suddenly struck him, and he went pink. "Oh."

Kai's face went stolid. "Speaking of training, is there any particular reason you're hiding here instead of waiting at the dojo, you two?"

To his surprise, the two younger boys paled.

"Trust me, Kai," Tyson groaned, holding up his hands in a placating manner, "_bad_ idea!"

Kenny shook his head in agreement. "We're not fooling. We've been pestered and harassed by our school reporter _all day_!"

"Your grandfather mentioned her, I believe," Kai said off-handedly. "Since when were you scared of a girl, Kinomiya?" Tyson frowned at him.

"Since she heard about this stupid tabloid, that's when!" He shot back, face burning, "And to add insult to injury, she's a yaoi otaku! Do you have any _idea_ how disturbing it is to have some crazy girl chase you around all day with a notepad and asking all sorts of ecchi questions?" Kenny shuddered, remembering some of the cruder questions asked earlier that day.

Kai's scowl deepened. "You aren't talking about that article from the United States about our so-called "secret" relationship, are you?" The look on the bluenette's face said it all. "I see."

Kenny huffed as he started to shuffle around in search of his equipment, "Quite frankly, I've had enough reporters lately to last me a while!"

"_You've_ had enough?" Tyson gaped. "_I_ was the one chased to school, chased at lunch, chased on the way home, caught _in_ my own home while getting dressed –!"

"Didn't need to hear that!" Kenny interrupted with burning cheeks. "Haven't you people traumatized me enough today?"

Kai said nothing, but a faint brush of color on his pale features gave away his thoughts on the matter.

"Let's just forget the stupid article for now, okay?" Tyson grumbled before asking, "So, we practicing at the beach instead?"

"Makes no difference to me."

"I don't care, so long as we go before she wizens up. Last thing I need is her harassing _me_ at home…"

Satisfied, the three left the noodle shop to head off for their changed training location.

Had they looked out of Kenny's bedroom window, they would've seen a victorious-looking girl with a tape recorder in one hand and a sprig of leaves in the other.

She grinned at the recorder in her hand before cackling, "Oh ho-ho! How long do you really think you can hide from me, Kinomiya-kun? I'll have that article written if it's the last thing I do!"

…

The three of them walked down the brush-lined street, Kenny going over some of the statistics from the previous practice session and what the areas of improvement were for that day. As he babbled, the younger of the two older boys kept glancing around, concerned about being caught – again – by the media. Kai may've had a glare to match the coach's, but was it really going to be enough to scare away reporters for a usual round of practice?

"Stop worrying," Kai interrupted his train of thought, glancing at him out of the corner of a dark red eye. "It's not like you." Tyson grinned weakly at him and glanced skyward. Only a faint splattering of clouds; looked like the weatherman was right, for once.

"So," the dark-haired youth began, clicking his tongue, "life uptown still treating you well?"

Kai smiled to himself; even with the recent events, it looked like Tyson was still insistent about his well-being. "I attend a private school, Tyson; not a military camp."

"I know!" He insisted, careful not to let Kenny (who tended to get wrapped up in his own little world, when it came to research) overhear. "I just can't help but wonder, sometimes. It's kinda like being trained to be the elite of society, y'know?"

"You never let me _forget_."

Tyson continued, "There's nothing wrong with it, really. I just think that you'd be better off staying with people you know, instead of a lonely dorm room. Snobby rich people can't possibly be _that_ great company."

Kai sighed, "We both know Wyatt's not like that."

Tyson smiled at the mention of the young British transfer student, the only friend Kai seemed to have at his school. He had met the boy once, when he had rushed after Kai when the upperclassman had accidentally left his dorm key at the library. It had been an entertaining episode, though Kai had made him swear never to utter a word of it again.

"Of course Wyatt's not like that, the kid worships you." Tyson continued, seeing the deserted stretch of beach open up and knowing his conversation time with Kai was drawing to a close for the next couple of hours. "It's cute. I'm half-expecting him to start asking if he can call you 'nii-san or aniki."

Kai stopped in his tracks, giving Tyson an unreadable look. Tyson's teasing smile faded as he looked at his team captain with a hint of panic.

"Shoot. Did I say something wrong?" He stepped closer to Kai, a hand on his shoulder. "Kai? C'mon, man, speak to me!" Kai seemed to snap out of whatever daze he had fallen into, causing Tyson to sigh loudly in relief. "Yeesh, don't scare me like that!"

"…And that should just about cover our schedule for today." Kenny finished as he snapped his laptop shut, not entirely surprised to see that Tyson and Kai were a few paces behind him. He rolled his eyes; if they really wanted to keep their relationship a _secret_, they should learn not to make it so _obvious_.

They did just fine when alone and separated, but any and all chemistry was more than apparent when the two were in the other's vicinity. It made tabloid writers very happy, to see two people – two _males_, on top of it – who seemed to have so little in common with even a perceived romance between them. It filled their paychecks, and made their lives that much easier.

"They're blatant, aren't they?" Someone in front of him tutted. Kenny nodded, then froze.

Kai and Tyson were knocked from their little world when they heard Kenny screech, and were even more surprised to find him scrambling behind the pair. Looking at him darkly, Kai demanded, "What the Hell –!"

A flash of a camera from where the youngest boy was originally standing interrupted him and answered his question.

Tyson groaned. "Oh, crap."

"Ah-_ha_!" A sandy-blonde girl grinned manically as Tyson made to scoot behind his captain, as well. "Trying to escape me, eh? Not gonna happen, Kinomiya-kun!" Kai sized her up. _This_ was the reporter hassling Tyson and the Chief all day?

"Who are you?" He shot back, glowering at her. To his surprise, the same look that caused most adults to give him a wide berth did little to affect the confidence of this one girl.

She merely grinned and cooed, "Aw, you're protecting him! So cute!" She cleared her throat. "Tanaka Naoko, School Reporter Extraordinaire, proud member of KOCS, and current bane of your boyfriend over there's existence!"

Kenny peered out with a disturbed face. "…You're a proud member of _what_?"

She puffed out her chest, big grin still in place. "Kicked Out of the Closet Support group! What'd you think it was, some kinda hentai thing?" Kenny spluttered and continued to hide behind his intimidating team captain. She cackled at his evident embarrassment.

"What are you _doing_ here!" Tyson snapped irritably. "Get lost, freak!"

"Your words wound me!" She cried melodramatically, though her grin never faltered, "If you and your lover-boy over there wanted some alone time, then why didn't you say so? I've got my camera in my bag – just hold off screwing each other boneless for a sec, and I'll grab it!"

The three boys went red, and Tyson and Kenny gave Kai a meaningfully weary look. '_See what we've been trying to _tell_ you?_'

_Now_ he had an idea just why the two had bolted for cover when she appeared. "Listen… whoever you are. We're behind schedule for training, and you're blocking the way. Move it." Perhaps all she needed was a nice _push_ in the right direction, preferably away from _them_.

"Mind a tagalong, then? This article won't write itself, and just think of the poor children that'll benefit from this!"

Apparently, Kenny's previous statement about their all-day harassment wasn't an exaggeration.

Tyson gave her a flat glower. "You don't write for charity, you're a _school _news reporter!"

"Same difference!" She waved off the fuming boy and shoved her recorder under Kai's nose. "How far have you gotten in your relationship? Do you have any intentions to go farther, like moving to the Netherlands so you can get hitched? Anything you'd like to say to all the broken-hearted fangirls and/or fanboys mourning their non-existent relationships with the two of you?"

Kai roughly shoved the tape recorder away from him and glared darkly at her, a nerve twitching irritably under his eye. "No one gave any permission for you to join us. And to be frank, your endless jabbering will ensure we _don't_ train. Scram."

He started to walk off, but a movement from her made him stop in his tracks. '_Did she just _waggle_ her eyebrows at us?_' "Oh… "training." Gotcha. Then just answer one little question for me, and I'll leave you two lovebirds to your own devices." Kai had a sudden sense of foreboding, at that. Tyson groaned, burying his face in his hands while Kenny went red and tried to hide behind his laptop.

She grinned widely, eyes glinting. "Top or bottom?" Kai went, and saw, red.

But before Kai could get arrested for aggravated assault, another voice cut into their standoff with only a vague hint of interest and plenty of exasperation.

"Oh, brother…" Kenny and Tyson looked up at the familiarity of the voice, surprised to see their class president with a bag filled with groceries in hand. "Naoko, you're going to get yourself killed one of these days for being so nosy."

"Hey, Hiromi, what can I say?" She answered with a chirp, seemingly not realizing how close she was to getting mauled, "The more danger involved, the greater the story!"

Hiromi glanced at the three boys with a mix of amusement and pity before winking at her surprised classmates and smiling at Naoko. "Hey, I was by the bookstore just a while ago, and I think I saw a new shipment of – oh, what was it called again? Catamount? Cat and Mouse?"

To the three teenage males' shock, the reporter had disappeared from invading Kai's personal space to butting into Hiromi's with a wide grin and an excited spark in her dark eyes. "Catamite, volume three's out! _Dude_, it's about time! King and Leo haven't let me down yet!"

The four watched blankly as she dashed away towards the bookstore, spurting her goodbyes and crying out gleefully, "Forget the prudes, I'm gettin' me some shouta _yaoi_!"

"…It's like watching a car crash," Kenny said after a moment of silence. "You don't want to see it, you know it's bad, but you just can't turn away."

"I know," Hiromi agreed with a shake of her head. "Scary."

Tyson sighed as she removed his cap and smoothed back his hair. "Well, _this_ is certainly something I never thought I'd say, but man!" He gave his normally bossy class president a thankful grin. "Thanks for saving our hides there."

"You have great timing, Tatibana-san," Kenny added, also relaxing from losing their current source of grief. "We owe you one!"

Kai, slightly embarrassed with himself for letting the reporter get under his skin, nodded in agreement. "They're right, you know. We do owe you."

Abruptly, Tyson's elation crashed down. "Aw, _crap_. _I_ owe _Hiromi_ for this!"

The sweet smile the brunette had been sporting through all the praise turned smug. "I wouldn't worry too much, Kinomiya-kun – it's not like I'd use this opportunity to force more after-school cleaning duties on you. I've got bigger things in mind."

Tyson made an exasperated wail.

Kai sighed and grabbed the nape of his despondent teammate's jacket collar, dragging him along as Kenny trotted after them. "Come on, you two. We might as well squeeze some training in before nightfall."

As the three boys left for the beach, soon followed by the clinks and clanks of metal against metal, she noticed the forgotten tape recorder on the ground where they had been standing before. She grinned and pocketed the device, whistling as she made her way home with her mother's groceries.

'_Hah! Now Tyson and Kenny owe me _twice'

…

The sun was dappling the last of its golden light onto the earth below as it sunk into the horizon when Kai and Tyson – sweating, tuckered out, pleased with the afternoon's efforts – finally called it quits for the day. Kenny tapped a persistent rhythm on his keyboard, filling in the last of the practice's stats into his database.

"Well, Tyson's speed's definitely improved from last month's average," he summarized as the two went to pick up their beyblades half-buried in the sand. "And Kai's endurance seems to be steadily increasing, which will certainly be to our advantage against any power-bladers who wear themselves out right at the beginning. I'd say today was quite productive, excusing the interruption at the beginning of practice…"

The other two cringed, remembering how the reporter had eventually dashed right back, demanding her tape recorder. Five minutes later, having convinced her that no, they didn't steal it and why on Earth would they want to, she had stormed off in a fit, brand-new manga tightly in hand.

Kenny snapped his laptop closed and gathered his own things, dusting the sand from his behind. "That should wrap things up for today. Anyway, I think we should head back; you two need to clean up."

They passed the sights they had earlier that day, the bushes now with a faint golden gleam as the sun nestled itself in its ocean bed. As before, Tyson and Kai had slowed their pace to be several steps behind their bespectacled friend, enjoying each other's company as they walked the sidewalks back home.

"…Tyson?" Unlike earlier that day, it was Kai that had broken the silence – a strange occurrence in it of itself. Tyson turned to look at his captain and dear… friend.

"Yeah?" He asked warmly, smiling at him with an affectionate gleam to his navy eyes. This comforted Kai mostly, but a nagging thought had crossed his mind, and darn it for casting any gloom over this private public time with Tyson.

"Did you…" He sighed heavily, "Did you really have to put up… with _that_?"

Tyson's face went from peaceful to pungent. "Please, Kai, haven't we suffered enough without conjuring the trauma?"

"I'm sorry." Tyson blinked, a worried furrow digging itself into his brow. What?

"Hey, what're you sorry for?" He pried as gently as he could, seeing Kai look away in shame. "If it's because of what I just said, I didn't mean to hurt you…"

Kai rolled his eyes in amusement; he just couldn't keep upset around Tyson for long, when he was like this. "No, it's not that… It's that crazy reporter…" Tyson's face went sour again, but he refrained from commenting. "I know it isn't my fault she's more stubborn than a mule, but I still feel guilty knowing you had to put up with that all day today. You had enough trouble with the actual press this morning."

'_Yikes._' "You knew?" Tyson asked worriedly, a fleeting glimpse of panic crossing his features. Kai nodded.

"My Social Sciences teacher, who I have first thing in the morning, is a bit of a news freak. He makes us watch the morning news with him."

Tyson made a whimpering noise and wished he could hide in himself until his embarrassment subsided. "Ugh. That is _so_ degrading…"

"Ty, look at me." Tyson felt Kai place a hand under his chin and tilt back his head until they were eye-to-eye and dark blue met claret. "What we have… we both know that this bond is special, maybe even one of a kind. I don't think either of us wants to lose it because some idiotic tabloid writer thought it'd be funny to exploit it."

"…I know, Kai – believe me, I _do_," he sighed as Kai looked at him worriedly. "It's just that… I really hate having to lie to Gramps, to Max and Rei, to everyone! I know Gramps would be okay with us, and Max and Rei were hinting too boldly at the two of us during the World tour to care whether or not we were gay. And this would seem like the perfect excuse to tell them, but… it'll feel like a cop-out. Like we only told the truth to get the papers off our backs."

"It wouldn't seem genuine, even though we both know it is," Kai reiterated, understanding where this train of thought was coming from.

Tyson sighed to himself, wondering how they could ever accomplish this task without having a fallout, like most celebrity couples this situation happened to. Kai was silent for a lapse of time, also morbidly curious about how this chain of events could end without disaster.

Kenny's earlier words came to Tyson's mind suddenly, and he couldn't help but smile in memory of them. Kai looked at him questioningly.

"Just recalling something somebody said to me once," he answered cryptically, a playful grin on his face once more. "As long as we play it safe while they're looking for an opening, we'll be just fine. Then, when we're ready, we can go in for the kill. Or, just tell them we're together. Whatever rocks your boat."

Kai shook his head, eyes flickering in amusement. "Your grandfather?"

"The Chief, strangely enough." The mention of his nickname startled Kenny out of his own reverie, turning back to look at the pair behind him suspiciously.

"What are you two talking about?" He asked warily. Tyson grinned at him impishly.

"Nothing much, just how many ways we can trick you into giving us a free dinner at the noodle shop."

"Hey! My parents may own the place, but it doesn't mean you get free meals!"

Kai laughed quietly to himself as the two friends bickered playfully, watching them with a sense of belonging and protectiveness. A small part of him, tainted from his past actions and beliefs, taunted him coldly, '_You're getting soft, Hiwatari. You're becoming as much of a weakling as they are…_'

His only response was, '_I don't care. Not anymore._'

…

**Omake (Extra):**

Naoko groaned weakly as she bent down to retrieve the dropped rag.

"This is your own fault, Tanaka-chan," Hiromi commented sternly as she held the reporter's tape recorder in one hand and her camera in the other. "You should know harassment is against the school code of conduct. Honestly, sneaking into Kinomiya's _house_ and taking photographs of his journal? You're lucky I'm just giving you after-school cleaning for the next two weeks instead of reporting you to the principal!"

'_This,_' Naoko thought grimly, gritting her teeth together as she wrung out the rag she was using to clean the chalkboard, '_is _war_, Kinomiya!_'


	4. Break and Bend

_LV: Hm, odd. This seems to be dragging on longer than last time…_

_CL: How so?_

_LV: Well, this chapter in the original, they had already crossed the Pacific and met the other teams. Here, they haven't even left Japan, yet!_

_CL: …You're taking too long. Evil witch. _

* * *

Viper's Nest

Written by Lunare Valhart

Batuken Shoot Beyblade is © Aoki Takao

All original characters are © Lunare Valhart, and are not to be used without permission

_**

* * *

**__**Chapter 3: Break and Bend**_

Birds chirped pleasantly as a spring breeze played among the treetops and budding flowerbeds. Children laughed as they ran off of school grounds, ready to go home for the day and enjoy their weekend.

"Kinomiya-kun---!"

"Ack! Chief, scram!"

"Tyson, wait! I can't run as fast as you!"

"Ratting on me to Miss President, eh? I got detention for two weeks, no thanks to you and your stubborn boyfriend!"

"Kai's not my boyfriend, for the thousandth time!"

"Stop denying it – I know what I had on my recorder! I'll post that article, if it's the last thing I do!"

…And two teenage boys could be seen running from their overenthusiastic and now-vengeful school reporter.

Tyson was dragging Kenny by the arm as they ducked into an alley, waiting until they heard her pass to breath a sigh of relief. Tyson groaned as he removed his cap to fix his ponytail, which had gotten loose while he and his brunette friend had been escaping.

Kenny fell back against the brick wall, clutching his laptop to his chest fearfully. "Ugh, you'd think that girl would give it up! It's been a month, already!"

"Tell me about it," Tyson muttered under his breath. "That detention of hers was weeks ago. Why is she still pinning it on me?"

"Ah-_ha_!" They froze when they caught sight of the very girl they were complaining about in front of the alley, face shadowed eerily. "You can't escape the wrath of a yaoi otaku, boys!"

"Every man for himself!" Tyson cried as he and Kenny split ways, each running opposite directions as they ran past the surprised school reporter and out of the alley. It took her a few seconds to process what had just occurred.

"Why you sneaky little – !" She chased after Tyson, eyes flaring. "Get back here, you… you!"

…

The pleasant, portly man laughed sympathetically as his driver pointed out the two boys running, seemingly for their lives. "Dear me! Yasuo, pull over. I think they need a bit of a hand."

"Of course, sir."

Further up the street, the aforementioned two boys were panicking as they were flushed from their latest hiding spot.

"Tyson, what do we do?" Kenny cried as he struggled to keep up. "We've tried hiding in the theater, at the stadium, in the park, at the shopping center – she's everywhere, I tell you!"

"Kai'd better not expect us at practice anytime soon!" Tyson answered back, just as out of breath at this point. "Because until we lose her, there's no way we'll be able to make it there in one piece!"

As he spoke, a black limo pulled up next to them. The two boys were about to tap into their second wind (again) when the tinted window slid down, and a familiar, jovial face peered out at them. "Good afternoon, boys. Out for a walk?"

"Mr. Dickenson!" Kenny cheered in relief. "Oh, thank goodness it's you!"

Tyson looked equally relieved. "Mr. D, you've gotta help us! We're running out of hiding places from the press – can you give us a hand?"

"Of course," Mr. Dickenson nodded. "Yasuo, if you would? Make yourself comfortable, boys."

The two teenagers hesitated at first, a little unsure of entering their benefactor's high-class car.

A faint cry of, "I smell gay boy fear!" came from further down the street.

Without further hesitation, the two bolted into the limo.

Mr. Dickenson laughed at their antics, wondering vaguely why children had more exciting lives this generation.

Kenny settled down after a bit, noticing the familiar sights towards the BBA Headquarters. "Mr. Dickenson, not that we're ungrateful, but why were you in our area?"

"Yeah," Tyson added. "Last time you came to us like this, it was to tell us about the Japan Nationals last year." The man merely smiled.

Kenny, catching on, began to smile back. "Oh, I think I get it! We've got another tournament coming up, don't we?" An affirming nod made Tyson light up with one of his brilliant grins.

"Sweet!" Tyson cheered. "We get to start the circuit again, _and_ we get away from that psycho reporter! Not to mention seeing Rei and Maxie again."

"Yes, it has been some time since you've all seen each other," Mr. Dickenson said distractedly. "Four, five months? I think it's due time for a reunion, before you lose your touch to work together as a team." He shook his head. "Either way, the two are or will be contacted with the information I am going to distribute this afternoon to Kai and the two of you. I had tried to contact you at school like I had with Kai, but your teacher and class president said you had run off in quite a hurry…"

"Naoko's fault," was the immediate response from both boys.

Mr. Dickenson decided it was better not to ask.

…

The Beyblade Battle Association's Headquarters.

The tall glass-paneled building shone out amongst the others, creating a certain illumination effect for many that had gone through its doors. Everyone from children in training clothes to adults in suits were walking in and out, and all seemed well on its grounds.

Mr. Dickenson and his young charges were greeted warmly as they walked into the lobby, the two teenagers flanking him as they walked into the BBA Headquarters. The younger ones watched them with adoration, and the elder with pride. Tyson smiled cheerfully at them all.

"Has Kai arrived yet, Mr. D?" He asked when they approached his office. The portly man chuckled and gave his mustache a light tug.

"Of course I have," Kai's voice snorted from behind the youth, who jumped in surprise. "I don't have odd excuses like you for being late or absent."

Tyson turned to frown at him. "Yeesh, Hiwatari! You fly here, or something? Your school ended twenty minutes ago!"

Kai made a small shrug. "Public transportation is a helpful thing, Kinomiya. You should learn how to use it."

Tyson blew a raspberry at him and remarked, "And you should learn how to loosen up!"

"All right, boys, I believe that's enough banter for now," Mr. Dickenson chuckled, knowing full well the two weren't intending insults. "Come into my office so we can discuss the upcoming events."

Mr. Dickenson's office was spacious and well lighted, the large panel windows just behind the director's desk providing most of the room's illumination. Small ferns and potted plants were set up to not make the room look so empty. A simple but professional cherry-wood desk with small knick-knacks and a photograph or two sat towards the back of the room, leaving room for the two black leather couches and the matching wooden coffee table in between.

The three boys made their way towards the couches, waiting for Mr. Dickenson to take his seat at the desk before sitting themselves. Kenny was the first to break the silence, his laptop open and settled on his lap. "So, what are the details about this tournament, Mr. Dickenson? The usual circuit?"

Still sporting a cheery smile, the portly man shook his head. "No, I figured that it was due time to try something… different. I have spoken with a beyblade tournament official that is not a part of the BBA and we both agree that it would do some good for our bladers to have a new assortment of talent and skill to compete against."

Kai frowned. "I wasn't aware there were other beyblade organizations…"

"The BBA is the largest, and thus, the most well-known," Mr. Dickenson explained. "Regions with a great amount of people, for instance, often create their own organization, intended only for residents of that area. In addition to that, many people lack the funds for participating in a BBA-mandated tournament. The three of you, Max, and Rei are lucky, in that by being scouted, you were exempt from the entrance fees."

"Not that Kai couldn't afford _all_ of us," Tyson sniggered. Kai spared him a glower.

"Can it, Kinomiya."

Kenny sighed, interrupting before their banter dissolved into more-than-obvious flirting – again. "Where _is_ the tournament taking place then, Mr. Dickenson?"

Mr. Dickenson's smile became mildly mischievous. "It's best classified as a regional tournament, as the locals refer to it by their region: the South American-Caribbean Tournament. This year, the board has decided to have it take place on Arena Isle." Kenny and Kai looked rather confused, but Tyson had a definite spark flash in his eyes at the name.

"The SAC?" He asked excitedly, oblivious to his two teammate's baffled expressions. "Are you serious? This's awesome!"

Kai blinked and looked at the dark-haired youth, giving him a peculiar expression. "You seem strangely familiar with this tournament. Anything you'd like to share with the rest of us?"

Tyson turned to grin at him, and it took Kai everything not to turn to putty in front of Mr. Dickenson (that certainly wouldn't help the tabloids die out). "Do I ever! Every country in Latin America participates in this tournament – just think of all the people we'll meet! Wouldn't that be awesome?"

"As Tyson said," Mr. Dickenson continued, smothering a chuckle at Tyson's eagerness, "it is a very popular tournament in its region. And with the amount of countries in that region, it's a fairly large one, at that. While some teams have BBA support and fundings, most don't have those sort of connections."

"Which is why we only met a handful of people from that region when we went to the American Tournament last year," Kenny realized. "It wasn't due to a lack of skill, it was because of lack of funds!" He blinked and turned to stare at Tyson. "And how come you know so much about this?"

The boy shrugged, twirling his cap on his finger and giving the brunette an impish grin. "Let's just say I have my resources. _Man_, I love one-upping you!" Kenny scowled at him.

"It's not funny. I'm _used_ to being the source of information!"

"So then, hotshot," Kai interrupted, giving Tyson a flat look, "what's Arena Isle?"

"Arena Isle is a man-made island off the coast of Puerto Rico," Mr. Dickenson explained, cutting in before things got out of hand, "designed for tournaments and tourism. The hotel resort you and the other teams will be staying at once the tournament begins is on the island, as well."

"Once it begins?" Kenny asked, blinking in surprise. "You mean we arrive before it starts?"

"That's because Latin America has such a variety of landmarks and stuff, so a week is normally given to teams to adjust." Tyson stopped and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Actually, it's pretty thoughtful of them, since someone coming from the desert will be a little more than shocked to suddenly be blading in a jungle or by the ocean."

"That _does_ make sense…" Kenny agreed, vaguely wondering why the BBA never instigated a similar rule.

Kai sighed and looked up at Mr. Dickenson evenly. "When are we leaving for… where was it, again?" Tyson sniggered before reaching over to pluck a hair from his captain's bangs.

"Methinks your hair color's getting to you, Kai," he commented with a clearly amused voice. Kai swatted a hand at him, glowering darkly.

Kenny groaned as Mr. Dickenson, with a certain sense of amusement, let the two bicker. '_I swear, if they keep this up, we're going to be hard-pressed to hide it when everyone meets at the tournament…_'

…

A sigh was heard in the office overlooking the cobblestone streets, and the woman inside fervently wished for this meeting to end soon. '_Five minutes in the same room as these two is enough to give anyone a migraine!_'

"Both of you, just settle down!" She managed to call out above the raging argument. Reluctantly, the two combatants threw one last glare towards each other before pointedly looking away. "Now, will the two of you just listen to reason and cooperate?"

The girl snorted before replying haughtily, "With all due respect, Señora, this idea of yours is a recipe for disaster. You know we can't get along!"

"Moreover, we _won't_," the youth added coldly. "I am sorry to disappoint you, Señora, but I cannot comply to this. You are very well aware that that we two are worse than oil and water."

"The only intelligent thing you've said today," the girl sneered, and the youth turned to snarl at her.

"Well, _maybe_ if a certain caricorta wasn't so full of herself – !"

"Look who's talking, Don Tanto!"

The two were standing again, eyes glaring and refusing to back down from the other's anger.

"You're lucky the Señora is here, puta, because if she weren't, I'd – !"

The woman, exasperated, slammed her hands onto her desk and stood herself, startling the two teenagers. "_Enough_! The two of you have been doing nothing but arguing since the beginning of this meeting! You are both strong, young adults, and it's due time you both start acting like it!"

The girl sputtered, "But, Señora – !"

"I know you are far from being comfortable around him yet," she told the girl, "but regardless of what has happened, there is no way for us to allow either of you back on the circuit if you cannot agree to this. These are not _my_ orders – believe me, I know the both of you would rather be with those you trust, but if that happens, the entire tournament will be cancelled by their order. And as much as I am fond of you two, I cannot let down our entire region or compromise a chance to get recognition as an official BBA tournament."

Something in both their gazes suddenly snapped to attention.

"Wait," the girl cut in, gripping her seat rests tightly. "Did you say this would become an _official_ BBA tournament?"

"As in," the youth continued, eyes alight in a manner the woman had never seen before, "teams outside our region will be welcome to join?"

Pleasantly surprised, the woman nodded. "It is exactly as it sounds. If the two of you cooperate, teams from as close as the United States to as far as Asia will even be permitted to – "

"Sign me up!" The girl exclaimed suddenly, an animated gleam in her eyes. "I don't care if it means having to work with _that_ – " she gestured in the youth's general direction, " – but I _have_ to participate!"

The youth actually ignored the jibe, a thoughtful (and oddly genuine) smile playing on his lips. "I'll have to agree, for once. Participating in this is worth the torment of working with _that_."

"Hey!" Unlike him, however, the girl still couldn't help but be offended by the remark.

The woman smiled to herself as the two – _finally_ – signed the papers before them, both with a certain look of determination she had seen only once before.

The main difference this time was that, instead of being grim, they were that of hope.


	5. Shining Star

_LV: Keepin' it up, and hoping that I can get this done! _

_Mana: You can do it, yes you can! Fight on, person, fight on, man!_

_LV: …Please don't be a cheerleader. Ever. You're worse at it than _I_ am._

* * *

Viper's Nest

Written by Lunare Valhart

Batuken Shoot Beyblade is © Aoki Takao

All original characters are © Lunare Valhart, and are not to be used without permission

_**

* * *

Chapter 4: Shining Star**_

"Bu-but, Koshio-sensei…!"

"No." The stern man snorted and turned away from his pleading student, "If he wishes to attend, he should at least show the decency to come here himself."

"I told them to start training without me, they really need to be on top of their game if they want to stand any chance against whatever competition!"

"Rather pointless, considering."

"Koshio-sensei, I beg of you! You have to excuse him this once!"

"I said no, Dion-san." He snapped his book shut and peered at his intelligent young student sharply. "I don't care how important this tournament of his is to him, Kinomiya-san has to learn that punctuality is a necessity in this world."

The brunette boy made a movement as if he were going to keep trying to reason with the stern teacher, but then sighed and hung his head resignedly. "I… understand, Koshio-sensei. I am sorry for wasting your time."

The man shook his head as the boy left the classroom dejectedly, almost missing the soft voice that interrupted him next, "Excuse me, Koshio-sensei? I think I may have a solution that will be fitting for everyone…"

…

Tyson scrambled around his room, making sure he had everything he needed. Frantic, he nearly knocked over a picture frame sitting neatly near his bedside. The frame tipped back and forth, eventually regaining balance with a faint clank.

The noise jolted Tyson out of his nervous pacing, and he looked over in the direction of the noise to discern exactly what it was. His eyes softened when he realized it was the picture frame. Walking over, he gently picked it up and ran a thumb over the glass surface.

_Children laughing. A sweet and loving smile. A squeal from a surprised boy…_

"Wish me luck," Tyson said softly to the photograph as he placed it back on his bedside drawer. "We'll see each other soon, I hope."

The phone suddenly trilled loudly, startling him out of his reverie. He sighed and grabbed the phone from the hook. "Moshi-moshi."

"_Tyson! You'll never believe this!_"

"Kenny?" Tyson blinked, confused. "What're you calling for? Don't you have to pack for tomorrow?"

"_I'm already packed!_" The brunette huffed from his end of the line. "_Remember how I spoke to one of the teachers about your admittance towards the tournament?_"

"Chief, Kincaid-sensei already approved it," Tyson sniggered. "She bumped into Koshio-sensei at the store the other day while I was over there and I overheard them chatting about it. The grouch doesn't seem to like it, but she does. And everyone in school knows how much _he_ respects her." He was sure he could hear Kenny's blush through the line. It was no secret that Koshio-sensei, despite being such a grump, held a more-than-minor crush for his open-minded coworker. However, many knew better than to let Koshio-sensei _know_ others knew – his detentions were grueling and seemed to stop just short of abusive.

"_Kincaid-sensei?_" Kenny blinked. "_That's… Oh, never mind. Anyway, Mr. Dickenson sent me the copies of the paperwork to turn in to the officials at the tournament. I just thought I'd let you know._" With that, the connection ended with a click.

Tyson stared at the phone oddly, wondering what that was about.

…

Numerous tongues could be heard as passengers from all parts of the globe bustled through the airport. The calls of different flights and airlines managed to permeate across the building, and the panicked passengers that were lagging behind bumped into others that were either early or were simply waiting for a plane to land with its cargo with rushed apologies.

One of the early passengers was Kai, leaning against the wall of the main hub with his carry-on bag in tow at his feet. Having already checked in his larger bags up front, he waited passively for his two teammates.

The sound of his name being called startled him slightly, and he glanced in the direction it was coming from curiously. He was surprised to see the flash of red material that was virtually signature to his much more exuberant teammate. '_Is that _Tyson_? Early?_'

"Kai!" The boy's voice called out again, "Hey, Kai!"

'_That's his voice, all right._' He commented to himself as Tyson bounded up, grinning his usual grin and slightly out of breath. Kai gave the boy a neutral look, brows raised curiously. "This is different – for once, you're not late."

Tyson threw him a sideways glower. "Oh, hardee-har-har, Niwatori. Glad to see you're getting a sense of humor at my expense!" Kai twitched at the nickname.

'_I will never forgive Max for that stupid observation of his._' "Stop calling me that, Kinomiya."

An outsider's observation of their conversation would say that Tyson's expression turned teasing – Kai knew better, however, and wondered why he was choosing _now_, of all times, to be flirty. "Oh, really? What'cha gonna do if I don't?"

Well, two could play at that game, Kai mentally decided, noting the unspoken challenge being presented. He smirked and leaned in, gesturing Tyson to do the same. "Remember, Kinomiya: _I'm_ in charge of rooming, and it would certainly be a shame if you were to lose the _view_ to someone who wouldn't appreciate it as much."

It took a moment for the words to sink in, but the shade of red that had promptly colored the shorter boy's cheeks upon realization was worth it. "Tease!" Tyson grumbled under his breath, shooting the smug youth a feeble glower.

"Only for you," was the light response.

Kenny appeared another uneventful twenty minutes later, his medicine bag in tow. "Hey, Kai, Tyson!" He greeted, wondering what was wrong with the scene presented in front of him. Something clicked, and Kenny jumped when he suddenly snapped his head to look at Tyson. "Tyson? How did you get here before me?"

Tyson blinked. "Sheesh, it took you that long to get? What's wrong, the old CPU up there need replacing?" He emphasized the statement with a playful knock on the brunette's head. Kenny swatted at his hand irritably, an embarrassed blush tingeing his cheeks.

The friendly banter was suddenly interrupted by someone smacking Tyson upside the head with a rolled-up pamphlet. Tyson winced, turning around to frown at the person and give them a piece of his mind. "Hey, what's the big idea!" One look at the person responsible, though, and his face fell.

The person, a young woman their age, had a hand on her hip as she waved the rolled-up pamphlet in the boy's face. "You are _really_ pushing things, Kinomiya! And what's this about you being _early_ for some tournament and still being late for classes?"

Tyson stared blankly at her before turning towards Kenny with a thunderous expression. "Kenny, _why_ is _she_ here?"

Kenny quailed under the normally cheerful boy's dark features. "Well, we owed her for helping us with Naoko several weeks ago! She's the reason you're even allowed to participate!"

"_What_?"

Hiromi scowled at the stricken expression her classmate had, wondering why she even agreed to this. "I overheard Kenny talking with Koshio-sensei about how you _needed_ to be at this tournament, so I talked to him and convinced him to let you go, so long as I got to go, too."

"As our _tutor_," Kenny finished, looking at his feet in embarrassment. "Mr. Dickenson said he was planning on having one with us this circuit, anyway. Just… not this soon. He knew we'd be too wrapped up in the competition to consider the make-up work."

"Yeesh!" Tyson threw his hands up in the air. "You get wrapped up in practice _once_ and you're suddenly a slacker! What gives?" Kai narrowed his eyes at Hiromi, suddenly suspicious.

"Does this include me, by any chance?"

Hiromi huffed and held up an open binder, each of the boys' names scribbled onto the separating tabs. "I'm doing all _five_ of you, Hiwatari-san. I'm a little surprised with – what's his name again, Rei? – since he doesn't have any _technical_ schooling… Anyway, from what your teachers said, you shouldn't be too bad. I'm a little surprised at your math grade, though."

Kai tried desperately not to heat up in front of Tyson, feeling the embarrassment at having some girl that had simply been at the right place at the right time mention the results of his feud with his petulant math teacher. "My math is perfectly _fine_. It's the _teacher_ that gets on my nerves."

"Yes, he _did_ put that note in…" She flipped the papers until she found it, reading it over once more. "Hm. Well, you're right about your ability to understand and complete the problems correctly – writing down the process shouldn't be that much of a stretch."

"Can we go now?" Tyson interrupted, to Kai's relief. "The plane's leaving in almost an hour, and we're not even at the gate."

The four paused for a silent moment before scrambling for the waiting area for their flight.

…

An hour later, the four were seated on board as the stewards walked around reminding everyone about the instructional video that would be playing just before take-off. Hiromi glanced around the cabin, surprise evident in her wide brown eyes.

"You guys get _first class_?" She gaped, nestling down further into the chair. Kai, having been forced to sit next to her, snorted at her eagerness.

Kenny laughed meekly. "Well, normally, we got economy – you know, three to a row? I'm guessing this is just a perk of being World Champions."

It was true. Instead of the economy class's three seats a row, first class had two to a row. To compensate, the seats were wider and had more legroom, and often two rows would face each other, making conversation much easier for groups that were larger than a pair.

Tyson twitched when he saw some tourists babbling excitedly with their company, waving around their digital camera. "I thought they didn't allow cameras on planes," he grumbled darkly. He let out a sigh of relief when a steward gently told the tourist to put away the camera, much to their disappointment.

"Paranoid, much?" Kenny asked lightly, determined to get even for his embarrassment earlier that morning. Tyson glowered at him.

Hiromi cleared her throat, brush some lint off her skirt. "So… how long have you all known each other, anyway?"

"Long enough," Kai answered flatly before the other two could provide a more diplomatic response. Hiromi frowned at him, but he wasn't the least bit perturbed.

"We've known each other roughly a year, maybe a few months more," Kenny restated, frowning at Kai, as well. Tyson gave him a look.

Refusing to back down, Hiromi continued, "How did you meet? It had to be interesting, I'm sure."

"Okay, _now_ you're beginning to sound like the reporter from Hell," Tyson commented with a disturbed expression. "I wouldn't be too insulted by Kai, though – he's like that with everyone." To her surprise, Kai smirked at her classmate somewhat smugly.

"Tyson knows better than anyone," Kai sniffed haughtily. "He wouldn't leave me alone long enough to ignore him."

Kenny groaned and cupped his face in his hands, much to Hiromi's confusion. But what surprised her more was the look the two other boys had shared during the exchange.

'_Hm…_' She narrowed her eyes at them suspiciously, remembering what she heard on Naoko's tapes before she gave the girl the two-week detention. '_Maybe there's more to that tabloid article than I thought…_'

…

The night cast a shadow over the city, lights from buildings dotting the dark expanse and providing a colder mirror image of the night sky city influences hid from a passerby's view.

"Yes… Yes, I see." A labored sigh. "Very well. Good day, Señora."

The man gently placed the receiver back into its cradle, hand lingering as he focused on a single speck of dust. A strong voice cut into the silence from the shadow and moonlight painted expanse before him.

"I take it our presence is needed," the figure stated, knowing from the man's posture and features that it was true.

"I'm afraid so." He lifted his eyes to meet the eyes of two shadowed men, one with dark eyes that blended into the shadows as he did and the other with eyes that held an animalistic sheen that caused them to stand out. "He is against the arrangements, true, but as soon as he heard of the bonuses for it, he agreed without a hitch."

The one with wild eyes could almost be seen grinning determinedly. "So, we'll finally be able to take that freak of nature out for good…!"

"No," the man ordered sharply. "He is _not_ to be killed, under any circumstance. Do what you must to detain him, but I prefer that he stay in one piece and relatively unharmed. He could have important information about _them_ that we could use to our advantage."

The one with dark eyes could be heard sighing. "Sir, I mean no disrespect, but we all know he isn't the sort to blurt out anything. If he says nothing, I wouldn't be surprised."

"That's why I keep saying he needs to be exterminated!" The wild-eyed one argued irritably. "He's useless to us, he's dangerous to the world – he's a freak, he doesn't belong anywhere!"

The man slammed his hands against his desk, eyes narrowed at the shadow with wild eyes. "No! There will be no more death, as far as I am concerned! As long as I stand as your superior, I suggest you'd do your best to remember that."

With a low growl, the wild-eyed figure submitted, "_Yes_, sir…"

…

Snores could be heard throughout the cabin, the faint whine of the engines and propellers lulling those having trouble sleeping into a state between the subconscious and the conscious. A few passengers were tuned out, dozing with the airline radio humming in their ears. Several bored insomniacs (along with those too fearful of sleeping on planes) were far more interested in seeing how many ways they could rouse their seating partners and not get in trouble with the cranky risers.

Tyson was one of those still awake, though he knew better than to bug his teammates when they were sleeping and he wasn't going to risk facing Hiromi's wrath in such close quarters. Instead, he glanced at the piece of paper in his hand. The letter he had been asking Kenny about earlier, when the four of them had been waiting to board.

The truth was, he hadn't even read past the first few lines, becoming too mentally distracted by images what they might expect once they arrived on the island. Maybe, if he were lucky, he'd finally see…

"Nah," he shrugged off, shaking his head at the ridiculous idea. That was expecting _too_ much. Steeling himself, he began trying to read Rei's letter once more, determined to not let his mind wander again.

-

Hello, Kenny and Tyson.

I hope you're doing well in Japan. I've never missed my village more than when I was traveling the world with you guys, despite all the great and not-so-great times we all had; it's that feeling you get when you see your home after a long time away, you know? ("Don't get distracted, don't get distracted…" Tyson repeated to himself at this point.) I would be nice if either of you would visit, so you could see why I love this place so much. However, I know that public schooling and a lack of funds are stopping you. I won't hold it against you two, but you both owe me one visit!

As for this tournament, I think it sounds very interesting! They have a bunch of new rules with it, too, or so I hear. New experiences, new challenges… I bet you're completely stoked, Tyson – I can practically see your reaction to this in my mind! Lee and the others have signed up, so I'll be traveling with them to Puerto Rico, but I'm still ready to take everybody on as a Bladebreaker. We've heard that other teams are coming along, too – I just hope one of them isn't Neoborg. The _last_ thing I need is a reminder of why I can't stand doctors now walking around!

I'm sorry I have to cut this short, but it's almost time for the mail carrier to come through. Can't have this letter be delayed, now can I? See you guys at the tournament!

Always,

Rei

-

At this point, Tyson noticed something scribbled onto the back of the letter, and he peered at it for a closer look. "'P.S. By the way, Tyson – you and Kai?'" Tyson blinked. Once. Twice. He peered at the small doodle just underneath the extra note, a sloppy caricature of him and Kai –

He flushed brightly. Rei was _dead_ when he saw him.

"Even _Rei's_ making fun of it, the creep!" He hissed under his breath, using all his willpower not to shred the paper in his hands.

"Who?" Kai's gruff question came from in front of him, where the older male was sitting for the flight. Tyson wasn't shocked to find Kai awake – they'd always known him to be a light sleeper.

He handed over Rei's letter with a snort of annoyance. "The human feline, that's who." Kai scanned the letter before noticing the extra note and giving the doodle a strange look. He glanced toward Tyson nervously.

"Is that supposed to be us having – ?"

"Kai!" Tyson hissed, cheeks burning. "There're kids in the cabin!" He then grumbled to himself, "I can't believe Rei has the nerve to call me the _girl_…"

Kai's lip twitched upward. "Well, compared to me – "

"If you want to live to see this tournament," Tyson bit out, voice icy, "you'll shove it. _Now_." Kai snickered to himself, but decided to ignore the unintentional bait Tyson had given him.

The two were silent for a moment before Tyson sighed, "I don't understand it, Kai. I don't understand it at all." Kai looked up at him worriedly. "I want to tell them, just like we agreed – I _do_ – but they're all treating this like some kind of big joke!"

Tyson was worried, Kai realized. He'd only seen the expression on the younger boy's face a few scant times, all of which were not his proudest or most pleasant memories. Reaching over, he gently clasped his hand over the boy's tanned one, causing Tyson to look up at him in surprise.

"Tyson, I know we agreed to tell them," he began, somewhat awkwardly, "but, if you want to wait until they stop thinking of it as an elaborate prank… it's fine."

Tyson blinked in surprise before his face melted into a warm, soft smile. "Aw, Kai… You sure you're as cold as everyone thinks you are?"

"My reputation precedes me, apparently." He was taken by surprise when Tyson's other hand was placed over his, and he looked up to meet dark silver-blue eyes. "Tyson…"

"You're nervous, too, aren't you?" Tyson stated, knowing it was true despite leaving it in question form. "Too much, too soon?"

"…Yeah, I guess," Kai admitted. "It's not because of you, it's just that… well, I'm not used to all this quite yet. It took me ages when I first left the Abbey to get used to the idea of _women_, but this is something completely different. It doesn't make me uncomfortable. It's… overwhelming, after all I had been taught. But in a good way." He shook his head, slate bangs swaying with the motion. "Does that make any sense?"

"It's you," Tyson commented lightly. "Of course it makes sense. So, we just hold off on telling them a little while longer. Right?"

Kai was silent for another moment before he squeezed Tyson's hand, giving him a small, sweet smile. "Thank you. For everything."

Tyson blushed faintly, smiling in return as he lifted up their entwined hands and pressed one of Kai's bare knuckles to his lips. "You're welcome."


	6. Heart Stopper

_LV: Sorry, I got distracted! Honest!_

_Kai: What on earth could keep you so distracted from _us_ so long?_

_Mighty: (steps in) Uh, Lunare-san, we need a little damage control over here… Shaut and Birdy are conspiring to throw Shirobon out the window._

_LV: (sweatdrop) Er, Mighty? We're on the first floor… And Birdy's more likely to listen to you over me. (coughhesolikesyoucough)_

_Tyson: …He's the reason you've ignored us lately, isn't he?_

_LV: (spazzes) I do _not_ fangirl! I never have, I never will!_

_Kasumi: (snicker) Never say never. I'll admit, though, his voice is really, _really_ nice._

_LV: …I hate you all._

* * *

Viper's Nest

Written by Lunare Valhart

Batuken Shoot Beyblade is © Aoki Takao

All original characters are © Lunare Valhart, and are not to be used without permission

_**

* * *

Chapter 5: Heart-Stopper**_

"_Attention passengers: we will be arriving at Aeropuerto de la Isla Grande in the next half-hour. Thank you for flying with us, and enjoy your trip!_"

Tyson jumped at the sound of the announcement, the beeping jostling him from his dozing. "Eh? What?" Hiromi's half-amused, half-irritated face greeted him, brows raised curiously at him.

"About time you woke up," she commented dryly, folding her arms over her chest. "The rest of us have been awake for the past two-and-a-half hours!"

Tyson gave a noncommittal, sleepy grunt. "Whatever." He glanced around, noting something was off. "Where's the Chief?"

"Kenny ran to the lavatory," Kai answered simply. Tyson winced.

"Yikes," he whistled, "poor Chief! Tourists were talking about landing, weren't they? Knew he got seasick easily, but this is crazy…"

Hiromi, knowing she had been forgotten for the moment _again_, frowned suspiciously at the two. '_So, Kai doesn't elaborate because he doesn't think he needs to, or because he _knows_ he doesn't need to with Tyson around? Or, maybe he's just antisocial and Kenny and Tyson have just spent enough time around him to know what he's thinking. That could be it._'

A small groan wavered down the aisle, and Kenny tottered weakly back into his seat with a pitiful, "Ugh… I _hate_ traveling…"

Tyson gave him a cheerful grin, prying himself away from the window. "Hey, chin up, Chief! At least you've got a week before we've got to go on the ferry to Arena Isle!"

Kenny stared at him in horror. "F-ferry?" At Tyson's nod, he paled several shades and crumpled into his seat with a wail. Hiromi blinked.

"Is he okay?"

"What, you haven't noticed how much he hates large bodies of water?" Tyson shrugged disinterestedly. "Relax, Hiromi. He'll be fine. Yo, Kai!" He suddenly switched focus to his captain, causing Hiromi to twitch ('_What about him requires most of Tyson's attention span? He doesn't even pay _half_ this much attention in class!_' She fumed privately.) "You got Maxie and Rei's flight schedules on you?"

Kai made a heavy sigh and pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and opened it blandly. "Max is arriving at three-fifteen at Gate 2. Rei should be landing about now – hopefully, he'll be at his gate like we planned."

"So…" Hiromi frowned, mentally organizing the information. "Rei is landing now, then we'll arrive, then Max?" Kai, a little irritated at having his explanation shortened, nodded somewhat sourly.

"Great!" Tyson grinned brightly, attention re-diverted back to the window at the slowly approaching landmass on the almost-endless blue expanse. '_I don't want to miss this for the world…_'

…

"…Hey, miss?"

The girl swatted halfheartedly at the hand prodding her, only to drift off once more into slumberland.

"Miss? Are you awake?"

"…Whaddya want…?" She mumbled, blearily opening her eyes to peer at the irritating git trying to wake her from her nap. In her sleep-muddled sight, however, she could only make out a mop of bright blond hair.

There was a muffled chuckle, and she vaguely wondered if she was still technically allowed to get away with assault. "The plane landed. You've gotta get off."

'_Plane? Plane, what about a plane…_' Her eyes widened, and her senses snapped right to attention. "Whoa, we've arrived, already? And I slept through landing?"

The blond laughed again, but now not _completely_ sleep-saturated, she could tell it was good-naturedly and sympathetic. "Yeah, I kinda figured that. But what'd you expect, it's just a three-hour plane ride!"

"Hey, I was in New York on stopover from San Francisco!" She argued, gathering her carry-ons. "Considering how that means I've been on planes since four AM my time, you should be more sympathetic to my plight!"

The blond mentally calculated the time difference in his head and left a large bead of sweat form. "Er, it's noon in California, you know…"

"I didn't sleep last night because I had to be at the airport at two AM, okay?" She snapped irritably, "I'm not used to pulling all-nighters!"

The blond winced. "Why didn't you ask for a direct flight, then?"

"…The airline I was on didn't _have_ a direct flight…"

"Wow," the blond whistled. "That sucks."

"Yup." The girl grumbled, scratching her nose. The two walked off into the pass, still continuing the conversation. "Anyway, thanks for waking me up!" She held out her hand in greeting. "Dulcea."

The blond took her hand and shook it, a grin splitting his freckled face. "No problem! Max."

Dulcea raised a brow curiously. "Max, huh? Cute name." At Max's light flush, she added with a grin, "Aw, I kid! So, what's a guy like you doing in a place like this?"

"A tournament – I beyblade professionally," Max answered, fishing in his pocket for the slip of paper he had scribbled on the details while waiting for his flight back in New York. Finally locating it after a moment's search, he continued, "The South American-Caribbean Tournament, apparently."

"You're blading in the SAC?" Dulcea blinked. "Whoa, weird. That's why I'm here, too."

"Really? That _is_ weird," Max reflected. There was a moment of silence before he laughed, "Oh well, can't be helped." Glancing over, he caught sight of a familiar cap and grinned to himself. "Anyway, see you later! I gotta go meet my team."

"Sure thing!" She waved and turned to the direction of the baggage claim, grinning back over her shoulder. "Don't feel bad if we go against each other in the dish, kid!"

"Just as long as you don't expect me to go easy on you if we do!" He answered back, offering one last wave before vanishing into the crowd of descending passengers.

Dulcea shook her head of dark curls with a thoughtful grin. '_Nice guy. Too bad I probably won't see him again until the tournament…_'

…

Hiromi huffed and blew a stray lock of brown hair from her eyes.

"Tyson!" She snapped, temper thinner due to the increased heat, "I thought you said your friend's gate was right around here!"

"It is!" Tyson shot back. "Max's gate is Gate 2, and this is Gate 2!" Hiromi glowered unhelpfully at the sign her classmate was pointing at to emphasize his statement.

"Why on Earth are all the signs here in Spanish, anyway?" She grumbled to herself. "What about all the foreigners that don't know the language?"

Tyson twitched. "I don't _know_, Tatibana. Why don't you ask one of the employees for an explanation?"

"Well, _maybe_ if they all weren't speaking Spanish like the damn _signs_…" Hiromi ground out.

"Then stop _complaining_," the bluenette growled before slapping himself. "Wow. Never thought I'd be saying that to _you_…" Hiromi rolled her eyes at him, deciding it was too hot to bicker with him any further.

She lent back against the wall, watching the tourists mingle with each other before making their way to the baggage claim and collecting their belongings. A particular young pair caught her eye, and she noted how easily they conversed, and how smiles and cheery tones came to the two. She found her mind wandering back to how easy it was for Tyson to grab Kai's hand, or for Kai to let Tyson elaborate on one of his obscure statements. True, she had only seen them interact over the course of one day, but there was no denying there was _some_ kind of connection…

"Hey, Tyson," she began, getting her classmate's attention. "Out of curiosity, what's the deal with you and Kai?"

Tyson choked, not expecting the question and looking at her in alarm. "Eh? Why do you wanna know?" '_There's no way she could've figured it out by now! There is no way!_'

Shrugging, Hiromi explained, "Well, it's just weird for me to see. I mean, the two of you look like polar opposites, and yet you get along pretty well. You trust him, _that_ much is obvious… And it certainly looks like he trusts you just as much."

Tyson breathed a sigh of relief, the tension that had taken over him when Hiromi brought up the subject easing away. '_Kenny's right, yet again – I _am_ getting paranoid. I still put all blame on that crazy reporter, though._' "That's it? Yeesh, I thought it was going to be something important! We're buds, yeah. True, I was the only one brave enough to approach him, at first… but he's just a sarcastic softie, once you get to know him."

"Oh," she responded. She wasn't convinced by the light-hearted answer she was given, however. '_He's hiding something big. Tyson's normally very friendly with people, but even _this_ is too much for him!_'

A bright voice suddenly cut through her train of thought, and a freckled boy with blue eyes and blond hair pounced from the crowd onto her grinning classmate.

"Tyson!" The blond boy cheered. "Hey, man, it's great to see you again!"

"Maxie!" Tyson responded in kind as the two separated long enough to perform a vaguely ridiculous handshake. "Yo, how's it been in New York?" Max shrugged.

"Eh, same old, same old. Mom insisted on the pepper spray, though." To emphasize his point, he fished out what appeared to be a fancy black pen. Tyson gaped at the device.

"Whoa, that it?"

"Yup!" Max grinned cheekily. "Just think: if I get ambushed by some psycho fan, all I have to do is say I'll autograph something, pull this baby out, and _bam_ – right in the eyes!" Tyson gave him a strange look.

"Are you _sure_ you're the innocent one, Max?" He asked warily. Max pouted at him.

"Hey, _you_ don't tell anyone about your martial arts training," the blond sniffed. "I think I've got the right to have my own self-defense secrets." Hiromi scoffed quietly at the boys' exchange.

Max looked at her curiously as Tyson smacked his forehead. "Jeez, it's real easy to forget you're here! Max, this is Hiromi. She's – "

"Your girlfriend?" Max supplied with a flat look on his face. "Tyson, I know you were upset about the tabloid and all, but actually dragging her with you to avoid the media?" Tyson and Hiromi donned equal looks of disgust at the notion.

"_That_ is _not_ my girlfriend, Mizuhara!" Tyson fumed, twitching wildly.

"_That_ is _not_ my boyfriend!" Hiromi snapped irritably at the same time. "Honestly, I have _much_ better taste in men than _that_!"

Max blinked curiously. "Then, why're you here?"

"I'm the tutor Mr. Dickenson asked to accompany you boys to make sure you all do your assignments!"

"Oh, _you're_ the tutor?" Max laughed. "Wow, talk about luck! And I was worried that we'd be stuck with an old coot that couldn't move without assistance!"

"Uh…" Hiromi stared, unsure whether or not the statement was a compliment or an insult. "Thanks. I guess?"

Tyson snorted, "Kissing up to the tutor, Maxie? You must _really_ need a good grade in one of your classes." Hiromi whacked him with her pamphlet without missing a beat.

"Can it, Kinomiya!" She ordered sharply. "You're not one to talk!"

"Hey!" He shot back. "It's not like I'm planning on _doing_ anything that requires me to memorize all the terms of sentence structures!"

"Ah, grammar," Max exclaimed woefully. "The most irritating of all subjects, next to math! …And even harder in English, considering you have different ways of spelling the same word and getting different meanings due to different ways of pronouncing the darn word."

"That was…" Hiromi blinked, pausing in whacking her classmate to wrap her brain around deciphering what the blond said, "…interesting."

Max grinned cheerfully. "Thank you!"

…

Rei looked up from his pamphlet to the familiar pair approaching the gate and turned a reassuring smile to the four waiting with him. "It's okay, guys. I see Kai and Kenny headed this way."

"You sure, Rei?" Mao asked, rearranging her long pink hair so the back of her neck would stay cool. The raven-haired neko-jin nodded and made a shooing motion with his free hand.

"Go ahead, I'll see you guys later!" He smiled, trying to duck out of Lee's hair-ruffling – an effort made in vain, as Gao had decided to give him a bone-crushing hug at that particular moment. "Oh, come on! We'll see each other in about a week, maybe less. I'll be fine!"

"Take care of yourself, Rei!" Kiki called out behind him as the four walked out to the exit, bags in hand and turning to wave at their old friend.

As Rei waved back, he heard Kai say behind him, "Paying your dues, I see."

"Hello, Kai," he greeted without turning to face the stoic youth. "I see you're without your lover-boy." As he turned around to fully greet the two, he took note of the brunette boy's paled features and the irritated twitch the older boy had taken.

Kenny gave him a pained look. "_Please_ don't mention the article around either of them, Rei! We've gone through enough torment these past two months!"

"Torment?" Rei repeated curiously, raising a brow.

"Trust me," Kenny groaned woefully. "You do _not_ want to know."

Rei cocked a brow curiously, but didn't press further.

…

Max waved excitedly with his free hand when he caught sight of Kai's tell-tale scarf swaying through the crowd, Rei's equally recognizable long wrapped hair trailing behind him and Kenny not far behind. "Long time no see, guys!"

"Nice to see you again, too," Rei greeted in return, smiling. "New York still overcrowded and noisy?"

Max blew a raspberry in his direction. "Is the valley still isolated and uncivilized?"

Hiromi watched the exchange in surprise, noting the humor in both of their faces. Kenny explained, "Max's from New York City and Rei's from a mountain village, remember? They tease each other fairly often about how different their backgrounds are, but they know neither of them are actually serious about it."

"Who's she?" Rei asked, gesturing towards Hiromi. He flicked his golden eyes in Kenny's direction and, seeing how close the two were standing, made a cattish grin. "Oh! Gee, Chief, I didn't know you had a girlfriend!"

Abruptly, the two flushed a dark red.

"I'm not his girlfriend!" Hiromi snapped, willing away her fierce blush. "I am not Kenny's girlfriend, I am not _Tyson's_ girlfriend, I don't even _know_ Hiwatari-san – I. Am. The. _Tutor_!"

"Hiromi, please calm down!" Kenny begged, noticing the way some of the other tourists were looking at them. Kai gave Rei a stern look. Rei merely shrugged in response.

Tyson rolled his eyes and readjusted his grip on his bags. "If we can ignore the spaz for a moment, can we get going?" The others looked at him in surprise.

"Whoa," Max whistled. "What's the rush? We just got here, Tyson! Can't we relax and enjoy each other's company before Kai drags us to practice?"

Kai, unaffected by the jibe, made a neutral shrug. "If one of you wants to start early, it makes no difference to me." Rei groaned.

"Gee, Tyson, _thanks_," he said flatly. "Now we're gonna be stuck practicing before any of us get used to this humidity!"

Tyson grinned sheepishly.

Kenny sighed and reached into his pocket. "Well, it doesn't matter, anyway. We've still got to go to the resort to check in, so we can claim our rooms and organize our things." He blinked, feeling no paper in his pocket. "What on earth…?"

"What's wrong, Kenny?" Hiromi asked warily. The bespectacled boy groaned.

"The resort name and number Mr. Dickenson gave us! It's gone!" He cried. "I must've lost it when I was cleaning out my pockets earlier!" The others stared at him in shock.

"You sure you can't find it?" Max insisted worriedly.

"It's not on me _anywhere_!" Kenny wailed, patting himself down frantically. "How could I lose it? I've never lost something important like that so easily!"

Kai frowned. "Do you at least remember the name of the place?" Kenny racked his brain, fumbling through his memories to remember.

"Or-something, that much I remember!" He answered miserably. "It was in Spanish; I don't completely recall it!"

Rei chewed on his lower lip. "Maybe we should try a phone book?"

"Can you _read_ Spanish?" Max interjected, flipping through one to prove his point. "Besides, we don't even know the word for hotel in Spanish. How would we find it?"

Hiromi sighed, feeling helpless about the odd situation. '_Great, this trip just keeps getting better and better…_' She suddenly noticed that her other classmate was absent from the group. Scowling, she scanned the crowd to find where he had disappeared. She caught sight of him near the payphones, and she had the mortifying mental image of him dialing up every number in the book in an effort to locate the resort.

Quickly, she shook Kenny's shoulder and gestured towards Tyson. "Uh, Kenny? Please don't tell me he's doing what I _think_ he's doing…" Kenny paled, as well.

Max blinked. "Wow. He's got guts, calling up random places."

"Well, it's Tyson," Rei commented. "What did you expect?"

"That moron's going to be the death of me…" Kai grumbled under his breath as the five of them approached the boy, catching snippets from the other end of the line.

"_...el taxi llegará pronto. Gracias por decirme tan rápidamente._"

"Hey, no problem!" Tyson laughed into the receiver, idly lifting his ponytail from his skin. "Just don't get anyone fired, okay?"

"_No puedo prometer eso._" And with that, the other end of the line clicked off, leaving a droning dial tone.

"Yeesh, talk about rude," Tyson grumbled to himself as he hung up, as well. He blinked owlishly at the stunned faces that greeted him when he turned from the payphone. "What?"

Solemnly, Max broke the silence with a quiet, "You understood the person jabbering on the other end of the line."

"Yeah…" Tyson affirmed warily, wondering what was bothering them so much.

Kenny made a small spasm. "Let me get this straight: you _understood_ someone – virtually _fluently_, at that – speaking a _completely_ different language on the other end of the line?"

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Tyson demanded heatedly.

"What is going on here?" Max thought aloud. "I've never seen you so excited for a tournament before – not even the Worlds!"

Rei added, "Not to mention all the strange happenings that's been going on since we've arrived…"

"Guys," Tyson griped. "There's nothing _wrong_!"

"Well, something's not _right_, either!" Kenny cried, looking extremely close to tearing at his hair. "First, Tyson somehow knows more about this tournament than _I_ do and then _refuses_ to say as to _how_ he knows! Second, he arrives _before me_ to the airport probably not even half-an-hour after _Kai_ arrives, and we all know he arrives at _least_ two hours before boarding! Third, Tyson's weird statement on the plane when we were landing: "I don't want to miss this for the world!" What the heck was _that_ supposed to mean?"

Tyson sputtered, "You actually _heard_ that?"

Ignoring him, Kenny continued, "And fourth, the entire experience here in the airport! He said he didn't need any help getting to Max's gate, and Hiromi justified that! He even pointed out to _Kai and me_ the right direction to Rei's gate, and he was right! And the person on the other end of that phone call just now was most _certainly_ speaking _Spanish_, and Tyson understood as if he were _fluent_!"

"I really don't see the big deal about this," Tyson grumbled, glowering at the frantic brunette. "So I'm not as single-minded as you thought – big deal!"

Max sighed and placed a hand on Tyson's shoulder. "That's not the point, Tyson. The point is, this is making us realize we know next-to-nothing about you – heck, we know more about _Kai_ than you, and you're the talkative one."

"Honestly, Tyson," Rei frowned in reflection, "until we arrived in London during our impromptu European tour, we didn't even know you _had_ family outside of your grandfather."

Hiromi shook her head. "Actually, I do know about his mother – I sort of remember her myself. Not by much, though." Max blinked at her curiously before turning to his suddenly uncomfortable-looking friend.

"Are your parents separated or something?" He asked, brow furrowed. Tyson glanced away.

"Not by choice," he answered evasively. Realization dawned in Kai's eyes and he frowned worriedly at him.

"Your father's a widower." The others started – whether at the conclusion or the soft tone the normally stoic youth's voice had taken, not even they were sure.

Rei sighed, "Wow. Talk about coincidence – your father's a widower, and my mother's a widow…" Everyone stared oddly at him. "Hey, I'm not fishing for sympathy here! Crazy woman's half the reason I left the village in the first place!"

"Why?" Tyson asked in confusion. Rei shuddered.

"She got clingy after my father died. _Real_ clingy. I always ended up spending longer _telling_ her where I was going and why than actually – quit getting off the subject!" Rei shook himself out of his explanation and turned a stern eye to his teammate. "We asked _you_ about _your_ family."

"And that's an order," Kai added, claret eyes boring into Tyson's startled dusky blue. "Starting with how on earth you knew the resort number without the aid of a phone book." The others looked at Kai in surprise before shifting to Tyson in disbelief.

Tyson flushed. "Gee, you caught that? Guess I got ahead of myself. I… actually call that resort fairly often – my aunt's the manager." He was met by a stunned silence. "What _now_?"

"You have an _aunt_ that lives here?" Max choked, blue eyes wide. "And she's the manager of a four-star resort hotel?"

"That's Aunt Cheres," Tyson shrugged nonchalantly. "I wouldn't be fooled by her job, though. She's pretty… well, bitchy, most of the time."

"Tyson!" Hiromi gaped. "That's no way to talk about your aunt!"

"Fine, she's as bad as Koshio-sensei and is embarrassed to admit she was ever interested in anything cool when she was young, happy?" Tyson restated flatly with little remorse for his previous answer.

"How is she related to you?" Rei asked.

"She's my dad's sister, but she's not Japanese," Tyson explained further. "The reason she and my dad have the same surname is because my dad was adopted by her family."

"I was wondering why you and your dad didn't share a surname…" Kenny commented. "This explains it."

"Yeah," Max admitted sheepishly. "For a while, I thought you were mixed like me…"

"Sorry, Maxie," Tyson grinned. "You're still one of a kind!"

Kai stared at him sternly before saying flatly, "Just how large is your family, anyway?"

Tyson paled slightly. "You really want me to say everything?" Kai nodded sharply. Tyson winced in response. "Okay… just because we've still got about fifteen minutes for the taxi to arrive…"

Idly, the others wondered if they should have just left things at that.

…

"…and yeah, that should be it."

The others gaped wordlessly at Tyson. Surprisingly, Kenny regained composure first.

"You mean to say that you've managed to keep that _entire_ family tree of yours under wraps for all this time?" Tyson made a half-hearted shrug.

"No wonder you never said anything," Max groaned. "With so many people, it's gotta be hard to keep track of all of them…"

Rei sighed, "You could've, at least, told us about your immediate family, though."

"But questions about the immediate family would have led to questions about the extended," a woman's voice cut in, urbane and dour. The six teenagers looked over to where the voice had come from and found themselves surprised by the sight. The woman was dressed cleanly in a dark green business suit, her dark brown hair pulled back into a sophisticated-looking chignon. Tyson smiled and waved.

"Hi, Aunt Cheres!" He greeted warmly. She glanced in his direction and inclined her head, but made no other acknowledgement.

She turned to the others, dark eyes sharp. "You must be the Bladebreakers. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure's all ours, Ms. Granger," Kenny replied, bowling slightly. Tyson snorted at the show of deference, plucking the shorter boy's collar and pulling him into a standing position. Cheres shot the pair a steely glower, but quickly schooled her features.

"Please enter the taxi," she stated crisply. "We will be leaving for the resort shortly. Your bags will be placed in the trunk by the driver."

As she walked back toward the taxi to ensure the driver placed all the luggage into the trunk, Max turned to give Tyson an incredulous look. "_That's_ your aunt? Jeez! When you said she was bitchy, I thought she'd be loud and grumpy, not all creepy and _proper_!"

"Not to mention the way she just brushed Tyson's hello off," Hiromi frowned. "He's her nephew, shouldn't she treat him with a bit more respect?"

"I just don't like the way she glared at me," Kenny frowned. "I just said it was nice to meet her! How could that offend her?"

Tyson made a small cough. "That may actually be my fault, Chief. Aunt Cheres… doesn't like it when she sees me interacting with guys."

Rei gave him a look. "You mean she glared at Kenny because you made him stand up? What's the logic behind that?"

"She's homophobic, isn't she," Kai asked, even though he felt he already knew the answer. Tyson nodded.

"The way she sees it, a guy should not be as friendly as I am with other guys," he explained. "So she gets pissy if she sees me helping up a guy friend that trips or giving them a shoulder to cry on or even just ruffling their hair."

Hiromi twitched. "Wait a second. You mean to say that, since you're _nice_, she assumes you're gay?"

"…Yeah." Hiromi twitched again.

"For the last time," Cheres' voice cut in, "please enter the taxi so we may leave."

The six jumped, but quickly scuttled into the taxi, wondering vaguely if she would actually strand them at the airport.


	7. YinYang Concept

_LV: Well, this chapter came faster than last time._

_Dulcea: Must have something to do with the weather. :grins evilly: Or that new interest of yours…_

_LV: I don't know about the weather, but _leave me alone_ about my recent interest in BMJ:twitch:_

_On another note, the resort is based off of three things: a typical hotel with Spanish style (some of which can been seen online if you Google™ "Spanish hacienda"), an actual manor in Ponce I visited during my recent stay in PR, and a lovely Spanish-styled manor near the vet my dogs go to._

_(And for those curious about the author notes for the past two chapters, I've been sucked into this anime called Bomberman Jetters. Try watching it on YouTube, if you're interested; it's pretty cute.)_

* * *

Viper's Nest

Written by Lunare Valhart

Batuken Shoot Beyblade is © Aoki Takao

All original characters are © Lunare Valhart, and are not to be used without permission

_**

* * *

Chapter 6: Yin-Yang Concept**_

"Welcome to Orilla Del Oro Resort."

The foreign teens found themselves gaping at the sight the resort hotel made. The building's architecture was clearly taken from Spain, the brilliant white stucco walls standing out against the drab grey of the surrounding buildings as tawny accents gave the place a cheerful personality. The dark ocher tile roofing gave contrast to the building, making it stand out even more. Decorating the front entrance, in the median of the drive-through, was an elaborate stone fountain lined with cobblestone walkways and vibrant flowers. All this, combined with the backdrop of the clear blue Caribbean sea, truly made the resort live up to its name: the Golden Shore.

"The internet doesn't do this place justice," Kenny squeaked, craning his head back to look at the many floors. "This really does look like a paradise!"

"A bellhop will fetch your bags and take them to your rooms," Cheres stated as she walked briskly through the main doors. The teens shrugged at each other, but followed her nonetheless.

The lobby was just slightly less gilded, gold accents lining the many marble surfaces and more decorative wall fountains lining their way around the room. Classic-styled tables and chairs dotted the room, a number of them positioned close to the large glass double-doors that overlooked the beach front, one cobblestone path diverting to the pools and another to the patio garden.

The receptionist at the desk glanced up boredly at the newcomers before recognizing her boss and hurriedly cramming the magazine she had been skimming under the desk. "Se-Señora Granger! I, uh, thought you left early!"

Cheres narrowed her violet eyes at the young woman, who shrunk back at the piercing gaze. "Ms. Tracey, let me see that magazine that was distracting you from your duties." Gulping, the young woman pulled out the magazine and held it out to Cheres. The older woman snatched it from her shaky grip and narrowed her eyes at the cover.

"'Prepare for Latin America's biggest beyblading extravaganza – BBA Official Headquarters announces sponsorship of South American-Caribbean Tournament'?" The others could almost swear they saw her snarl at the magazine. "Ms. Tracey, _what_ have I said about having this trash out here while you're _working_?"

The girl quailed under her boss's glare. "I-I'm sorry, ma'am! It's just that… well…" She floundered for a moment. "Y'know… your niece let me borrow it, since I've been so busy between studies and work…"

"Why, that little…!" Cheres growled to herself. "If I've told her once, I've told her a thousand times not to bring this tomfoolery into my hotel!"

Max leaned over and muttered into Tyson's ear, "She hates beyblading, too? _Wow_, that's strange."

"Well, she _tolerated_ it just over a year ago," Tyson answered back lowly. "I don't know why she's suddenly acting like it's the worst thing in the world…"

"Maybe it has to do with the last World Tournament," Rei offered. "You _did_ get dragged into an all-or-nothing battle with Yuriy in a harsh environment. Maybe she's just concerned for your safety in an obscure way?" Tyson shrugged, but continued to eye his irate aunt warily.

"See to it that these boys get escorted to their rooms, and then retrieve Señor Ramirez and the _both_ of you can explain to me _in my office_ why you decided to shirk your duties _today_, when our staff meeting last week _clearly_ pointed out that this would be a hectic week, what with the many teams participating in this tournament _and_ the tourists coming to see them!"

"Yes, ma'am." The young woman hung her head glumly before glancing up to the foreigners. "Hello, and welcome to Orilla Del Oro Resort. Do you have a reservation with us?"

"Yes, under Bladebreakers."

"Right, und – " The young woman's eyes bugged and she finally took a good look at the group of six on the other side of the desk. "My God! The _Bladebreakers_? I'm a huge fan!"

"Does this happen often?" Hiromi asked quietly to the boys.

Rei, the closest to her, responded while glancing around warily, "Yes, and as long as others don't hear her, we should be fine and get to our rooms before the mobs arrive." Hiromi paled somewhat, recalling the many times Tyson and even Kenny had literally begged Coach Yamamoto to play bodyguard for them after the World Tournament nearly a year ago.

"…I'm terribly, _terribly_ sorry about the inconvenience and my rudeness earlier! If there is any way, _any_ way at all, to make it up to you – !"

Kai interrupted flatly, "Our room keys should suffice, miss."

The young woman's ramblings faltered and she blushed brightly before turning back to the computer. "R-right! Of course. Your room numbers are 501, 503, and 505 on the fifth floor. Here are your card keys – these two are for Room 505, these three are for 503, and this last one is for whoever has Room 501."

"That last one's mine," Hiromi declared before anyone could argue. "I am _not_ rooming with any guys!"

"The rest of us will figure out rooming amongst ourselves," Kenny nodded as he took the cards. "Either that, or we're shuffling again."

Max groaned. "Oh _man_! I _hate_ shuffling!"

"Tell me about it," Tyson grumbled. "I could swear Rei _purrs_ in his sleep!"

"I do _not_!" The neko-jin huffed defensively. "And you're no Sleeping Beauty, either, Mr. Saws-Logs!"

"Are you implying I snore?"

"Who said I was implying?"

Kenny pinched the bridge of his nose irritably, slightly pushing up his glasses in the process. "I never should have brought this up…"

Forgotten at the desk as the group walked off towards the elevator, Tracey watched after them with starry eyes. "Kai Hiwatari _talked_ to me…!"

…

Once in the elevator, Kenny had managed – barely – to take reign of the arrangements once more.

"Okay, we all know Hiromi's getting the single room to herself," he affirmed. "The rooming arrangements for the rest of us are the problem here. We obviously don't want to shuffle again – "

"What _is_ shuffling, anyway?" Hiromi asked.

"We switch rooms every night," Tyson and Max explained at the same time. Their eyes widened.

"Jinx! Owe me a soda!"

"Dangit!" Tyson snapped his fingers. "And I almost got you that time, too!"

"As I was about to explain," Kenny continued, pointedly ignoring the two, "shuffling is when we switch rooms every night to change pace. Normally, we're either all sleeping in the same room or we've got individual rooms. But when we've got to pair up, we either draw straws, shuffle, or on a rare occasion, we come to a rooming agreement ourselves."

Rei tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Well, _I_ think that Tyson and Kai should room together while the rest of us get the room with the extra cot!" Max and Tyson halted their play-fight to gape at him while Kai glowered in his direction and Kenny twitched wildly. He shrugged innocently. "What? It's for a good purpose! Since that tabloid's still a hot topic, their rooming together should hint that they're just friends, not wildly passionate lovers dying to get some alone time." He grinned impishly. "Unless, of course, you _are_, then it's more like we're _giving_ you that alone time…" This added comment earned him two heated glares, which he brushed off nonchalantly.

Max frowned. "You want to use _reverse psychology_ on the media?"

"Hey, it could work."

"And if it backfires?" Kai questioned sharply.

Rei made something between a grin and a smirk. "There's flaws and risks in every strategy, so don't sue me."

Kai frowned speculatively. "As much as I'd hate to admit, you may have a point. Not to mention the three of you can't seem to get this log-bump _awake_ in the mornings…" The three other boys flushed sheepishly.

"In our defense, he sleeps like the dead and snores loud enough to _wake_ the dead," Max argued weakly. "We're normally too tired ourselves to prod him awake!"

"Hey! I don't snore that loud!"

"Fine, you're loud enough to make _us_ look like the living dead. Happy?"

"Why you little…!"

Hiromi watched Kai suspiciously, noting the way everything about his body language screamed indifference – save his eyes, which, unbeknownst to him, were glimmering faintly in silent amusement as he, Kenny, and herself watched Tyson bicker with Max and Rei. '_He seems far too cheerful at the prospect of being alone with Tyson, despite his obvious annoyance towards that tabloid. Not to mention their room is the farthest away from the rest of us…_' She frowned. '_Was that article really nothing but made-up trash, or is there an actual basis of truth underneath the lies…?_'

…

"Wow, that sun feels good!" Hiromi announced as the boys walked out of the lobby and outside onto the street. Having changed into lighter clothing more suitable for the weather, they quickly noticed the heat, while still present, wasn't as intolerable as before.

The cobblestone streets were flowing with tourists going up and down the streets, the occasional vehicle parting the crowd as it cruised by. Several groups of tourists passed them, but they paid no mind to the group of teens, brushing them off as tourists like themselves and not world-renown celebrities.

"Wow, what should we do first?" Max whistled, eyeing some of the souvenir stands lining the walkways. Rei chuckled and guided him past, despite his protests.

"You can shop for souvenirs later, Maxie," he snickered in response to the kicked puppy look the blond was giving him.

"There's so much I want to see!" Hiromi gasped in awe as they passed a low stone wall, the sea peering out over the edge. "I don't know where to start!"

"I thought you were here to bug us about our studies," Tyson grumbled to himself. She glowered at him.

"Hey, lay off, Kinomiya!" She snapped in response. "Studies are important, but this is my first time off-continent!"

"Yeah, once the giddiness wears off, she'll be more focused on her duties," Kenny reasoned. "I remember being excited when we first came to the US last year. It was no big deal for Max, but it was for the rest of us."

"That's true." At that particular moment, a low whine droned. Tyson blushed sheepishly. "Sorry. I'm starved."

"Typical Tyson," Kenny sighed. Rei and Max laughed at his suffering expression.

"Oh, don't give us that look," Max snickered when his dark-haired friend glowered at him. "We're hungry, too. I don't think anyone got to eat much besides peanuts and pretzels… I know I didn't, since I was on a three-hour flight."

"I got a crappy bowl of instant ramen, if that counts," Rei commented, sheepishly holding up his hand. "But that was hours ago."

"And our flight had some issues and couldn't feed us breakfast due to shortage," Kenny groaned. "And we had first-class, too…"

"Then we should probably refuel before we go out sight-seeing," Max offered. "Anybody see someplace they like?"

"Ooh, a real Caribbean café!" Hiromi pointed out towards a rustic-looking place under the eaves, sun umbrellas set over the outside tables as tourists and residents alike trickled in and out with a variety of local foods and drinks. "Can we eat there? It smells so nice!"

"Nice, indeed," Rei nodded, sniffing the air lightly. "Nothing's better than freshly baked bread, straight from the oven!"

Max nudged him. "Not that I'm complaining, but whatever happened to your "Rice is best with everything!" mentality?"

"Like any true Asian, I still love rice," Rei sniffed haughtily before hanging his head. "However, Europe spoiled me somewhat."

"Bread here's better," Tyson commented airily. "It's even mildly _sweet_."

Max's eyes bugged. "Holy crap, _sweet bread_? You can actually _get_ that here? Awesome!"

"Well, Kai?" Kenny turned to the only person who hadn't said a word about the situation. "It's your call."

Kai rolled his eyes and made a 'go ahead' gesture, causing the hungry teens to dart into the café eagerly. He followed behind at a more relaxed pace.

…

The girl glared.

The youth glared back.

"I hate you," the girl hissed.

"As if I haven't noticed," the youth shot back coldly.

The second girl groaned. '_So _this_ is what the memo meant by "bring two weeks' worth of aspirin." Just my luck I didn't take it seriously._' "Could you two stop bickering like old men for _five_ _minutes_? I don't know how we're going to make it through this tournament if you two continue to act like this!"

The second youth, much shorter than the first, added dryly, "Especially since you two are making up our strongest pair. We won't make it past the preliminaries!"

"I'd still prefer to have stayed with my former team," the first youth growled. "What possessed me to agree to work with that caricorta?"

The first girl sneered in response, "Just because I have to work with you, doesn't mean I don't hate your guts still! I have bigger goals than you, and I'll put up with whatever I have to, to reach them!"

"And you think I don't have goals?" The first youth snarled, a large fist clenching tightly. "I know very well what you're planning, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let you tarnish my good name!"

"_What_ good name? And aren't you already damned, you freak?"

"That's it!" The second girl snapped, slapping her hands on the table and pushing herself up out of her chair. "You two are giving me the _worst_ migraine! I'm _going_ into a drug store, _getting_ a large bottle of aspirin, and _staying away_ until you two get tired of trash-talking!" With that, she marched off, face dark as a thundercloud.

The shorter boy broke out into a cold sweat, gulping nervously. "Er, yeah. I'm tired of you, too!" There was a moment of awkward silence before he dashed off after the other girl in a panic.

With an irritated sigh, the first youth grunted and pushed himself out of the chair. The first girl snapped her head to glare at him. "And where do you think _you're_ going?" He glowered at her darkly.

"_I_ don't have to answer to you, puta," he snapped, beginning to walk away. "Besides, Granger, _you're_ not the captain of this team – _I_ am."

The girl looked around, thoroughly agitated and put into her place, and said flatly to no one in particular, "Great…"

…

Hiromi blinked at the odd sight before her.

When she had stepped out of the café, the vanilla custard (Tyson had called it flan) in hand, she caught sight of a lone girl sitting at one of the outside tables, chin propped up in one hand and seemingly glaring at whatever crossed her line of sight. She supposed that alone shouldn't have caught her curiosity, so she was remotely glad that wasn't the case.

What _did_ catch her attention was the long, blue-black braid falling down to the small of the girl's back, clad in a strangely familiar red material. Though she could tell the article of clothing was a jersey-esque shirt and not a jacket, it didn't help the mental comparison that was forming in her mind's eye. The girl's mocha-toned skin was darker, but the basic shade seemed the same. The three red beads hanging from a single tendril of her bangs could almost be compared to a tri-colored baseball cap…

Suddenly the girl burst out in a growling string of words Hiromi couldn't understand, but caused her cheeks to burn nonetheless. Quite frankly, one didn't need to understand Spanish to know the girl had let out a very colorful insult. Hiromi felt vaguely sorry for the poor person on the receiving end.

"Find a table yet?"

Hiromi yelped, whipping around to meet Max's surprised face. "Max! Don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry, Hiromi," Max laughed nervously. "I didn't realize you zonked out." Hiromi flushed again, this time in personal embarrassment.

"Hey, Max." Rei stepped out of the café as well, chewing contentedly at a piece of bread. "Do we have a table yet?"

"Not yet," the blond answered. He looked around. "I thought the Chief would be out next?"

Rei rolled his eyes and flicked a stray crumb onto the sidewalk, causing a small black bird to lunge at it with a triumphant cry. "Kenny's writing down the menu items and having Tyson translate them for later use. Poor guy really shouldn't have let us know he understood Spanish almost fluently; he's never going to be able to eat!"

Max looked inside. "Maybe I should go back inside and help… I don't know much, but I do know about food." Rei shook his head.

"Tyson's still the better choice," he reasoned. "He has relatives that live here, so he knows the local dishes better." Hiromi gave him an odd look. "What?"

"You're being nice and polite," she said flatly. At Rei's slow nod of conformation, she continued, "You were being some sort of weird pervert earlier."

Max rolled his eyes. "Oh, _that_. It's just Rei's sadistic hobby to see how flustered he can make a person."

"It is not," Rei answered lightly. "I'm just experimenting to see if it really is possible to die of embarrassment, as the saying goes."

Max shot back playfully, "Already been done! Some author about a century or two ago in Italy got so embarrassed over a stupid typo that he got a stroke and died in his home."

Rei stared at him. "…_Why_ do you know that?"

"One of my teachers loves sharing weird facts to get us interested in the lessons. That just happened to be a favorite of mine."

"You two _do_ know that I'm still here, right?" Hiromi cut it irritably. The two youths looked at her in surprise.

"Wow," Max said after a moment of silence. "Tyson's right; you _are_ easy to forget." Rei coughed and looked away, whistling innocently. She glared at them.

Another sudden burst of colorful foreign curses caused the three to start, glancing over in the direction it came from. Max and Rei stared at the girl, trying to figure out why she looked so familiar.

"Hey, guys!" Tyson chirped as he stepped out, bags in hand. The three jumped.

"Jeez!" Rei gasped, grabbing at the general area of his heart. "Could you _warn_ a guy before doing that?"

"Sorry," he shrugged. Kai and Kenny stepped out, the latter fanning himself with his notepad.

Kenny sighed, "It's so hot out…! How can you three just stand out here without any shade?"

"Actually," Max interrupted, "we kinda forgot about the table. We were kinda shocked by someone here."

Kai frowned. "What? Did you see someone familiar?"

"Well…" Hiromi pursed her lips. "Not really. She just looked like someone we knew."

"She?"

"Yeah," Rei nodded. He turned to Tyson curiously. "Hey, Tyson, didn't you say that your sister lived with your aunt?"

Tyson stared for a moment. "…You mean Kasumi? What brought this on?"

"Well, then," Rei commented lightly, gesturing to the lone girl apparently still grumbling about something or other, "does she look familiar?"

Tyson looked over at her. After a moment, his eyes widened and a grin split across his face. "Kas!" He called out, to his friends' surprise and the girl's shock. "Kas, that really you?"

Whipping her head around, the girl managed to focus on Tyson's call, and a grin not unlike his own found itself settling on her face. "Ty! You _did_ come!"

To the others' surprise, Tyson handed the bags off to a startled Kai as the girl pushed herself out of her table, both laughing brightly as they ran towards each other and met halfway, squeezing each other tightly without any sign of letting go. When they eventually did, the others looked at Tyson expectantly.

"Huh?" He blinked at them before realization dawned, causing him to laugh nervously. "Er, sorry. Got a bit overexcited there, huh? Guys, this is Kasumi, my twin sister."

"Hi!" Kasumi chirped, looking far more cheerful than when she was sitting alone moments before.

"Well, that explain a lot," Kenny said, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "The two of you look very much alike, despite being fraternal." Rei nodded in agreement.

Tyson turned to face his sister again, features bright. "Kas, these are my friends: Max, Rei, Kenny, and Kai." He gestured to each of them, who made their own greetings. He then gestured to the irritated and mildly hurt-looking girl. "And that's Hiromi."

There was a flicker of confusion on the girl's face. "Hiromi…?" Her eyes widened and she glanced at her brother. "Wait, isn't she your class president? What's she doing here?"

Hiromi answered before Tyson opened his mouth, shooting him a glower as she spoke. "I'm here as the boys' tutor. Mr. Dickenson felt it was best that someone tagged along to make sure they completed their studies and assignments."

"Oh." Kasumi blinked. "Glorified baby-sitter, then?" Hiromi took one look at the insulted faces around her and started laughing.

"'Glorified _baby-sitter_'?" Tyson parroted irritably. "Gee, _sis_, nice to see you, too!" Kasumi only grinned teasingly in response, brown eyes (the only other obvious difference between the two, so far) bright with mirth.

Max blinked, abruptly remembering how angry she had seemed before. "Hey… Kasumi, was it? Why were you sitting by yourself?"

"Yeah, Tyson asked about you on our way to your aunt's resort," Hiromi recalled with a small frown. "Your aunt said you were meeting with your team…?"

Kasumi's smile faltered as her features reverted from cheerful back to the steely glower they had first seen her don. "We talked. They left."

"What?" Tyson blinked, looking strangely at her. "That doesn't sound like your team…"

"That's because they're _not_," she growled lowly. At the circle of confused faces, she explained, "Last year, I was team captain to the Puerto Rican team. We called ourselves the Guardias, and we were all pretty good friends. But, due to certain circumstances, I wasn't allowed to enter this year's tournament with them; I had to be placed on the 'diplomat' team that's supposed to show the unity the tournament symbolizes. However, unlike with the Guardias…"

"You and your new teammates don't get along?"

She made a disgruntled snort. "Oh, I get along _fine_ with the mulatta and the midget, it's that _creep_ of a team captain that gets to me!" Nervously, Kenny inched away to steer clear of the rather intimidating vibes radiating off the girl.

"You," Rei commented warily, "_really_ don't like this person, do you?"

Kasumi twitched. "I don't like him. He doesn't like me. Let's just leave it at that." And with that, she became all smiles once more. "By the way, do you guys need a tour guide? I know all the places around here like the back of my hand…"

Flabbergasted by her mercurial change in mood, the foreign teens could only nod numbly.

…

"Ow…" He rubbed his ear gingerly. "You didn't have to drag me out by my earring, y'know!"

The other male towered over him, eyes narrowed. "It's your own fault for having that leather string attached to your ear in the first place. That has to be one of the most idiotic fashion trends I have ever seen."

"You're one to talk about fashion…" the shorter boy grumbled under his breath. He quailed when the other glowered down at him. "I didn't say anything!"

"You had better not." His focus diverted back to the group as they conversed, completely oblivious to their audience. "Look at those fools – they don't even realize they have an angel in their presence…"

The shorter youth gagged. "Ugh, do you have to involve _me_ in this trash? I have better things to do than listen to a gay guy spout his undying affections for someone _he's never met_." The taller youth whipped around to snarl at him, causing him to backpedal and cringe fearfully. "O-or I could just shut up and pretend I never said anything! That always works!"

"You _do_ know that I want this first meeting to have a _good_ lasting impact, right?" The taller youth hissed lowly at his companion. He quickly glanced over to the group and frowned. "It's just my luck that Granger already has influence over the situation. It puts me at a disadvantage, considering our mutual… _dislike_ of each other and his natural inclination to believe her over me."

"_I'm_ still trying to figure out why you hate _her_ so much and still can have this stupid crush on her _twin_ brother," the shorter commented flatly, rolling his eyes at the irony of the situation. This earned him another glare.

"I do _not_ have a "crush" on him," the taller growled. "Only sniveling, whiny fangirls and fanboys have crushes. _I_ have a true devotion to him and would put aside my needs for his own."

The shorter groaned and let his head fall back onto the brick wall, instinctively knowing it was going to be one _long_ day…


	8. Cat and Mouse

_LV: Ignoring my rather embarrassing outburst this morning…_

_Max: I still can't believe you actually _whooped_ with joy because they uploaded a new episode of Bomberman Jetterz. --;_

_Rei: -coughFangirlcoughcough-_

_LV: …Shut up. AND IT'S _GEEK,_ cat-boy!_

_Some pre-chapter notes: Yes, I live in America and use the American system for measurements; however, I'm using metric for this story for believability – the central characters for this story are Japanese, remember? And before anyone asks me, yes, the temperatures Tyson mentions (for non-metric users, it's roughly 74-78°F) are considered "chilly" for PR. And Kasumi's most recognizable feature (which wasn't mentioned last chapter) has had research put into it. Ah, the joys of being a medical student…_

_Oh, and do forgive the ending. I seem to making a bad habit of that sort of thing._

* * *

Viper's Nest

Written by Lunare Valhart

Batuken Shoot Beyblade is © Aoki Takao

All original characters are © Lunare Valhart, and are not to be used without permission

_**

* * *

Chapter 7: Cat and Mouse**_

Rei was an honest sort of guy. He liked it when people told the truth. But his neko-jin nature tended to give him insatiable curiosity, which in turn had a tendency to get him in trouble. As a result, he was more than a little miffed when, despite his best efforts, Kasumi refused to let him or anyone else catch what she hiding behind her long dark bangs veiling the right half of her face.

He hadn't noticed it, at first. He just thought that having her hair in her face didn't bother her that much. However, several times he caught her raising a hand to brush aside her bangs, then abruptly freeze and drop her hand to her side or randomly point out something to them to cover her movement. She was careful not to make any sudden movements that would cause her hair to fly – and if she did, she was facing away from them. Not to mention she seemed to be avoiding the shopping districts where she was bound to bump into someone that would recognize her…

If anyone knew the reasoning behind this odd quirk, he reasoned, it would be Tyson.

When Kasumi's attention was diverted towards something else, Rei made his move. "Hey, Tyson. What's up with her?"

"Huh?" The bluenette blinked.

"Kasumi," Rei clarified. "Is there something wrong with her?"

"Why?"

"You haven't noticed?" Max cut in, eyes wide. "She seems a bit OCD with the right side of her face. I don't know how she's managed, but she's kept that part of her face hidden in the entire hour we've known her!"

Kenny frowned. "Who _hasn't_ noticed it? It's not typical behavior for anybody, not unless they're hiding something."

Hiromi chewed on her lower lip. "Guys, I don't think we should be talking about this… Sure, it's strange, but she's got to be doing it for a reason."

"Who's got to be doing what for a reason?"

The five jumped at the sudden intrusion, flushing guiltily as they looked up to see Kasumi watching them warily.

Tyson sighed and looked at her. "Kas, could we talk for a moment? There's something I've gotta ask you privately."

She shook her head. "If you're going to question my behavior so far, then it's probably best to say it in front of your friends. They're going to find out by the tournament anyway, so I'd prefer to have you guys hear it from me."

"It deals with the accident, doesn't it?" Tyson deducted with a furrowed brow. The others looked at him in alarm.

"Accident?" Kenny parroted. "What accident? When?"

"An accident that had me worried sick because I couldn't contact her for _months_ because she was being hospitalized, that's what," Tyson grumbled sourly.

"Last year, I… got a little too involved in the tournament," Kasumi explained carefully. "As a result, I was… I got too careless, and I got hurt bad enough to warrant several months in and out of the hospital and a specialized treatment center." She lifted a hand, fingers hooking around the curtain of hair still veiling her face. "This is the result of my pride and my carelessness."

With that, she finally brushed aside her bangs to reveal the face beneath. A thick, long scar cut across the expanse of her right cheek, the outer edges veining out in webs while the surrounding area appeared a dusted red. The skin just beyond the borders of the central injury looked unnatural, almost asymmetrical with the left half of her face.

Kasumi watched indifferently as her brother and his teammates paled. "The sad part is, the doctors think that _this_ is as good as I'm going to get. This is also the reason Cheres didn't want me to participate in this tournament – because it happened during last year's SAC. She's terrified I'll get hurt, again."

"So _that's_ the reason she chewed out that receptionist for having a beyblading magazine?" Hiromi frowned, remembering the strict woman's face. Kasumi faltered.

"What? Cheres chewed out Tracey, _again_?" She groaned. "Jeez, that poor girl never catches a break!"

Kai rose a brow questioningly. "You mean it happens often?"

"More than anyone cares for," Kasumi huffed, causing a quick ripple of smothered snickers and giggles among the group. The seriousness of the situation gone, Kasumi grinned and continued her tour, "By the way, none of you've met Señora Romero, have you?"

…

A faint rustling of cloth catching on concrete.

"Great, Granger's _still_ with them…" A low growl hissed as the youth ducked into the alley to avoid being seen.

The shorter of the pair gave a rather unsympathetic shrug and attempted to walk away. "Oh well. We're gonna bump into them sooner or later, so there's no real need to ru – gack!"

The taller youth had grabbed hold of the shorter's collar, glowering at him darkly as he sharply pulled him back. "_You_, pest, aren't going _anywhere_. I'm going to find an opening, and I will introduce myself without a hitch, even if it kills me." His eyes narrowed at the shivering boy that was still just short of being strangled in his much stronger grip. "Or worse yet, _you_."

As best he could, the shorter boy gulped, "Er… why are we just standing around for? It's better to get a handle on the competition before seeing them in the dish, right?"

"That's better," the taller youth snorted with a haughty air, releasing his shorter companion and ignoring said companion's nervous twitching. "Follow me, I think I know a short-cut…"

…

There was a knock on the office door. The woman sighed and looked up tiredly. "Yes?"

"Señora Romero? It's me."

Surprised, the woman sat up straighter in her chair. "Kasumi? What brings you to my office?"

The girl poked her head through the door, her dark braid falling over her shoulder. "I just thought I'd bring you some stray bladers that hadn't gotten their bands, yet."

"Bands?" Another voice from behind the door questioned with an audible gape. "What bands?"

"I can explain that inside my office," the woman answered, gesturing Kasumi to let the team inside. She knew it was rather rude of her to do so, but she couldn't help but think the bright look to the girl's features strange, and it led her to wonder what on Earth could have lifted her mood to this point.

The door's crack widened to allow Kasumi to enter, where she was followed by a group of what looked to be six teens, five Asian and one American. The woman lowered her pen in surprise, wondering why all but the brunette girl looked familiar. Kasumi turned to the six, and the woman was surprised to see how there wasn't even the faintest hint of the bitterness that normally marred her features in her brown eyes.

"Guys, this is Señora Elena Romero, Puerto Rico's head official of the South American-Caribbean Tournament," Kasumi introduced warmly. She then turned to Sra. Romero, who was stunned further by the girl's cheery mood. "Señora, these are the Bladebreakers from Japan. My _brother's_ team."

'_Bladebreakers? Japan? _Brother_? …Oh._' Sra. Romero tittered to herself, everything suddenly falling into place. "So _this_ is why you readily accepted the terms of agreement after hearing about the BBA sponsorship. You just wanted an excuse to see him again." The faint pink dusting the dark-haired girl's cheeks gave her away, and Sra. Romero smiled to herself; this had been a very good idea.

"Anyway, the bands I mentioned earlier are part of the new battling system," Kasumi explained as she glanced back at the Japanese team. "It's a tag-team affair, so you'll have two sub-teams in addition to your main team. The bands are a way of identifying which team members are partners."

"The bands themselves are micro-chipped and each chip writes data involving the team's wins and losses, as well as personal performance for the wearer," Sra. Romero explained further. "In addition, points are awarded for pairs that exhibit qualities such as teamwork and the ability to adapt quickly and seamlessly from one situation to another. In a sense, two contests are going to be running for the duration of the tournament: one for beyblading and the other for sportsmanship and team mentality."

"So, we have to register for this?" Kenny asked simply, rather relieved that the woman could speak English fairly well, despite the accent. Sra. Romero nodded.

"This is mostly due to the fact that the team needs to decide who should pair with whom." Sra. Romero's face became pained. "The only exception to this are the members of our diplomatic team, where it was decided by the council that the two finalists from the year before should form one pair and the remaining two form as the second. Kasumi can assure you that it makes for a rather… _unpleasant_ arrangement."

"Wait, so your team captain's your blading partner, even if you two don't actually like each other?" Tyson asked Kasumi as a flash of ire crossed her features.

There was a snort from behind them. "_Just_ dislike? Man, Kas, what kinda trash have you been feeding these guys?" Turning around, the Japanese team saw a tall, dark-skinned girl with short black hair and a cocky aura radiating off her as three other girls stood behind her, all of clearly different descents. "Sayin' you "dislike" _that_ guy is like sayin' you only "sorta-like" that chino we bumped into last year!"

Kasumi, to everyone else's surprise, went a brilliant shade of red. "Torre! Not in front of my brother!"

Tyson narrowed his eyes suspiciously at his blushing sister. "_What_ Chinese guy is she talking about, Kas?" The girl quailed with an audible squeak, trying to veil her brightly burning cheeks with her bangs. "Kas, quit the turtle act! Who's this Chinese guy she's talking about, and how come you never told me?"

"Lies!" Kasumi managed to blurt, looking completely unconvincing with the crimson staining on her features. "All lies! I never met a cool Chinese guy and I certainly don't have a crush or anything like that on him, even if he is sweet and really cute and – eep!" She clamped her hands over her mouth immediately, the red flush creeping down her neck as the other Japanese stared at her and the group of girls started to laugh at her mortified expression.

"Oh, Kas," the tall blonde managed between giggles as she wiped a mirthful tear from her violet eyes. "You're really something else. It's cute how worked up you get denying it."

"Calisto, he's like, five years older than me!"

"Hakan is three years older than me, Kas," the petite redhead countered with a poorly stifled laugh.

"Aerie, you're the nice one – you're supposed to be on _my_ side!"

"Kas, just admit you like the guy and we'll get off your back," the lilac-haired girl sighed as she folded her arms over her chest, the large blue and golden-yellow parrot on her shoulder bobbing its head up and down in a nodding manner. …And for some reason, Rei found himself idly wondering _why_ the bird looked like it wanted to say something.

Kasumi deflated. "You, too, Felix? Man, who _else_ are you going to put against me!"

Hiromi looked at their flustered guide, then to the Hispanic girls that had stepped in unannounced and found herself wishing – again – she knew Spanish well enough to figure out what on Earth the new girls could have said to make Kasumi blush like that. "Uh, am I the only one that doesn't know what's going on?" She asked meekly, turning the attention towards her.

The girl Kasumi called Torre raised a brow at her. "Huh. Hey, look; another Japanese girl," she said without missing a beat, this time in accented English. The blonde girl Kasumi called Calisto gave her a warning look, causing the other female to shrink back passively. "What? I wasn't gonna say anything!"

"You say that every time, and we just got away from Gabriela and her lot threatening to run you through with a machete, _again_," she stated flatly, her accent much lighter and adding a slight aesthetic quality to her soft voice. The redheaded Aerie and lilac-haired Felix nodded in pained agreement.

"Word to the wise, Torre," Felix told her with an exasperated tone, an accent also clipping her speech. "It's never a good idea to tell a physically-sensitive girl that she should "lay off the extra chocolate" for the sake of the tournament!"

"Yes, I couldn't stand it when people hinted I was fat when I was with Nikki," Aerie frowned, surprising the others with her near-inaudible accent.

Kasumi, who had regained both her composure and her normal color, blinked in surprise. "Hey, speaking of Nikki, where is she?" Aerie grinned a sugary smile.

"Daddy said he wanted to spend some time with his baby girl, so he said he'd watch her for me while I was busy with the tournament," she cooed warmly, causing Torre to gag silently and earn a smack across the head from Calisto in the process.

Felix seemed to be the only one to notice the impatient looks and cleared her throat nervously. "Sorry about the intrusion. We're the Guardias, Kasumi's former team." Everyone stared.

Kasumi made an embarrassed cough. "Yeah, sorry about that. Torre just went flying into embarrassing the crap out of me and I didn't get the chance to introduce you. As Felix said, they're my old team. You know, the one I was _pulled from_ to be stuck with that pain in the – _jerk_." Torre rose a brow curiously at the sudden change of insult, but didn't question it otherwise. She wasn't the only one who noticed, either; Kai narrowed his eyes suspiciously, wondering if the girl's strange behavior involving her team captain had anything to do with the prickling sensation that felt vaguely like someone was trying to burn holes through the back of his head. Ridiculous as it sounded, the disturbing feeling hadn't worn off since they met the girl at the café.

Sra. Romero made a soft laugh, dispelling the sour mood as the teenagers looked over at her curiously. "Well, girls, what brings you to my office?"

"Oh, that," Aerie laughed sheepishly. "We were just going to sign up. We can wait until these guys are done, though. It's not every day we get to meet Kas' famed twin brother and his friends!"

Kenny stared at her and the rest of the Guardias, watching as they all nodded (even the parrot, it seemed, though he brushed it off as a trick of the heat) and slowly turned to his dark-haired friend. "Let me get this straight: your _sister_ talks about you, but _you_ fail to mention her even _once_?"

Tyson made a nervous chuckle as he scratched the back of his head, a faint pink brushing the apples of his cheeks. "Uh… sorry?"

Kenny nearly screamed in frustration.

…

The shorter of the two sighed irritably, quite annoyed at being dragged around the city for the past few hours. "Can we do it _now_?"

"For the _hundredth_ time," the taller ground out, becoming more and more tempted to just strangle the boy, "not _yet_! Granger will throw a fit if she sees us, and that will ruin my perfect first impression!"

"Gee, I thought you didn't _care_ what she thought," he grumbled. He squeaked fearfully when a strong grip yanked at his collar again, forcing him to see the ire in the taller youth's eyes.

"If anything Granger says threatens my chances with him," he hissed darkly, "that's enough reason for me to care what comes out of her mouth."

"Yeesh," the shorter coughed as the other unceremoniously dropped him without another word, "you sure the one you like is the guy?"

He regretted his words immediately after he said them, and paled when the taller youth stopped to glare at him. "Bobby?"

He gulped. '_I'm so dead!_' "Y-yeah?"

"Shut up," the taller snorted, turning to walk away, "before I _permanently_ make you."

…

Hiromi turned to her, brown eyes bright. "What's this place called?"

Kasumi allowed herself a proud smile as her brother and his friends took in the impressive outline of the old Spanish fortress. "This is the smaller of the two forts here in Old San Juan, San Cristobal. And _this_ is the one with the rumored haunted lookout tower…"

Max and Tyson lit up as Kenny paled. "Really?" Knowing what was going through their teammates' minds, Kai and Rei exchanged pained glances.

"We're not going up there, you two," Kai shot down the request before it was mentioned, to Max and Tyson's dismay and Kenny's relief.

"Aw, party-pooper!" Tyson griped.

Kasumi shrugged. "Hey, it's not like all of us could fit in there, either – there's only room for two, at most."

"Ooh, a private overlook of the Caribbean," Rei snickered as Max gave Tyson a suggestive nudge towards Kai. "Nice. No cameras, no paparazzi…"

"No breaks for either of you, if you keep this up," Kai added threateningly, glaring at the two. Max and Rei only shrugged at each other, snickering to themselves when he turned away.

The two females in the group sighed in irritation. "Men," Hiromi huffed.

"You sure about that?" Kasumi grumbled, "The way they gossip, I could've sworn they were whiny teenage girls." Hiromi smothered a laugh at that remark.

"They did sound like that, didn't they?" She reflected in amusement. Kasumi allowed herself a snicker and glanced around.

She froze, eyes narrowing at a particular spot. "Oh, _Hell_ no…"

Hiromi blinked. "Excuse me?"

Turning back to the brunette, Kasumi forced a smile. "Hey, you guys go on ahead! I'll catch up in a few!"

The boys turned to look at the lagging girls. "You sure?" Max asked in surprise.

"Positive!" Kasumi assured as she walked away. "It shouldn't take long!"

The five boys blinked at each other as Hiromi caught up with them.

"What was that for?"

…

'_Of all the inconsiderate, immoral, irresponsible things that moron can do…!_' Kasumi fumed as she stalked over to the alleyway she had caught glimpse of an olive-green tip of hair slipping into the shadows. '_How stupid does he think I am? Of course I'll notice him stalking us all afternoon – ay Dio, you'd have to be _blind_ to not notice a giant like him sneaking around!_'

She caught sight of a brown leather string and knew she had found her target. Racing around to the other end of the alley, she stood firmly in the center of the cobblestone path and growled when the two youths skidded to a stop to avoid colliding into her.

"I knew you were low a _long_ time ago, Flavien," Kasumi growled at the taller male, "but _this_ is a whole new level for you! Stalking us? What's the matter, too afraid of an honest introduction?" She glanced down towards the shorter of the pair, quirking a brow. "And why're you dragging Bobby around with you? Isn't that normally your lap-pets' job?"

Bobby burst into tears on the spot. "Sonbre made me do it, honest! He threatened bodily harm if I didn't cooperate! I had better things to do than tail you all afternoon!"

"Didn't we all?" The taller of the pair suddenly said aloud, straightening up and stepping closer to the lighted area. "But either way, it's a good thing Roberto here found you."

"What?" Kasumi and Bobby both demanded, completely lost at this sudden diplomacy. As he passed, the tall youth nudged Bobby pointedly, daring him to argue.

"Well, practice is rather pointless when we are missing teammates, don't you agree?"

"Uh," Bobby gulped, "r-right! Th-that's why I was tailing you! I could've been working on a good, strong launch in the time it's taken me to find you!"

Kasumi, however, was still in the dark. "What the _Hell_ are you two babbling on about?"

"Makes perfect sense from here, actually," a voice bit out from behind her, and she groaned when she recognized the even tone.

"Come on, Kai, they're just joking around," she grumbled, surprised to see that the entire team had gathered behind him with equally annoyed and exasperated looks. "What?"

Rei shook his head despairingly. "Earlier, it seemed that you were actually quite responsible. But really, just using us as an excuse to ditch practice?"

"I mean, Tyson moans and groans about it," Max added with a scolding tone to his voice, "but he still attends practice unless he has other really important stuff to get out of the way first."

Abruptly, the whole 'practice' charade made sense. Rather insulted and mildly embarrassed at this point, she tried to explain, "Guys, there _was_ no practice today, I swear! The bastard here's just saying that to – !"

"Wow, isn't that a bit harsh, Kas?" Tyson reeled, surprised his sister would even _consider_ calling someone such a cruel name. "I mean, I know you don't like the guy, but he can't be _that_ bad…"

Kasumi was completely shell-shocked by this otherwise-innocent statement, and she could just _feel_ the glee radiating off the ridiculously tall youth behind her. "Ty, do you know who you're _talking_ about? This guy's the slimiest – !"

Stepping out of the shadows completely, Sonbre fully made his appearance. The youth's olive-toned hair ended roughly between his shoulders and mid-back, tied neatly in a low ponytail while his bangs, too short to stay clipped back, fell into exotic serpentine-green eyes. His attire was simple and loose, almost archaic in design. As if this weren't impressive enough, the youth stood at least head-and-shoulders above the others, towering over everyone – even Kai, who still remained the tallest of the foreign teens.

"Now, Granger," Sonbre said blithely, sparing her a smug glance as he passed her to approach the foreigners. "If you had simply given me the proof that you were, indeed, related to the World Champion like I asked, I wouldn't have wasted an afternoon trying to hunt you down… How irresponsible of you!" Kasumi growled at him, knowing from his expression he was milking this opportunity for what it was worth.

Mistaking the angry growl for one of incoming danger, Tyson stepped forward to intervene, giving Sonbre an apologetic smile. "I'm really sorry about all the trouble we caused you, uh…"

"Sonbre," he offered charmingly, bright jade eyes gentle and oddly warm. "Sonbre Flavien. You must be the great Tyson Kinomiya."

Tyson, a bit abashed by the ego-preening, laughed somewhat nervously. "Gee, is my face that recognizable?"

"Of course," Sonbre assured. "It would be a shame for such a well-known person to not be recognized by the people, especially after all you've done for us."

"Er… it wasn't _that_ big a deal…"

Kenny glanced back and forth between the two and sighed. "Has anyone else noticed how he's ignored everyone, including his own teammates, in favor of sweet-talking Tyson?"

"Yup," came the reply from Max and Rei. Bobby's face showed his full agreement. Hiromi frowned at the two somewhat enviously. '_Since when has Tyson been such a hot guy magnet?_'

Kasumi glared daggers at Sonbre, snarling, "Back off of my brother, freak." Sonbre made a mock-injured expression.

Before Tyson could intervene again, Kai grabbed his wrist and pulled him back, garnet eyes narrowed suspiciously at the taller teen. "We've wasted enough time this afternoon. We're headed back to the resort. _Now_."

With no room for argument, Max and Kenny shrugged at each other and followed without a word. Rei snickered to himself as he followed, noting how Kai's brow was furrowed dangerously low and the other male's face clearly showed a certain amount of smugness. Hiromi lagged at the rear, giving the other Japanese girl a quick apologetic smile before turning to catch up to the boys again.

As soon as the Bladebreakers were out of sight, Kasumi turned on Sonbre with a dark growl. "You set me up, you bastard! You saw them coming and made me look bad – and in front of my _brother_, no less!" She turned to glare at Bobby. "And you _helped_ the bastard!"

Bobby made a panicked squeak and cowered. "It was self-preservation, I swear! He'd tear me a new opening if I didn't play along!"

"You were planning on doing the same, Granger!" Sonbre hissed in retaliation. "I saw how you were hinting to them all afternoon that I was some sort of heartless dictator!"

"What the hell are you on? I was too excited seeing my brother after so long to ruin it by mentioning _you_!"

"Oh, of _course_ – that's why you were ranting on and on about how _unfair_ I was and how I had _no_ respect for you!"

"You _don't_ have any respect for me, you bastard!"

Bobby blinked and, realizing he had been forgotten by the two, decided to make a tactical retreat while they were still distracted with their pointless squabble.

…

Sunset cast a coppery glow to the resort, causing the whitewashed walls to beam a brilliant amber and the colored tiled roof and shutters to shine red-gold. The sugar-sand beach became tea-stained as a young couple, most likely newlyweds on their honeymoon, walked along the stretch of sun-tinged sand as the copper-blue sea brushed frothy waves onto the shore.

Gazing over these sights from their fifth-floor room, Tyson sat with his back against the side of the plush resort bed and his arms loosely laced around Kai's waist, who leaned back comfortably into the shorter boy's body as Tyson nestled his head in the nook between Kai's broad shoulders and neck.

"It's pretty, isn't it?" Tyson sighed, nuzzling Kai's paint-free cheek with his own and smiling slightly to himself when the gesture was returned. Kai had been fairly subdued – even for him – since they left their guide at the fort and it worried him. Although, it _had_ been reassuring to see him snickering at the miserable and grouchy faces of the Demolition Boys as they passed them in the lobby, who clearly had never stepped foot out of Russia and were suddenly stuck on an island where "chilly" was considered anything between twenty-three to twenty-six degrees Celsius… Okay, so it _was_ funny, now that he thought about it.

Kai glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and made a neutral huff. "I've seen prettier." He felt rather than saw Tyson's annoyed look, and turned his head just enough to press dry lips against the soft skin of the younger boy's cheek. "You, for instance." The rush of heat from the flesh still brushing his mouth following the remark made him smile satisfactorily – only _he_ was allowed to make the World Champion blush like that.

"All right, now I _know_ something's wrong," Tyson muttered, willing away the flush that had instinctively colored his mocha-toned features at the sugar-coated compliment. As nice as it was to hear, especially from Kai, he wasn't one of those people that needed reassurance that he was attractive or worth being seen with – and for some reason, Kai's way of fishing for compliments when he was feeling insecure involved using some of the _corniest_ lines on him when they both knew it wasn't necessary.

Kai sighed, knowing he'd been caught in the act again (and now that he thought about it, that had been a particularly _bad_ line, too) and returned his gaze to the burning ruby orb sinking into the horizon's rippling azure expanse. "That guy, from earlier. I don't like him." Tyson blinked.

"Because he was flirting with me?"

"There's that," Kai conceded, and let his hand squeeze Tyson's offered one to reassure the both of them. "But it has more to do with his presence. There's something about him that's… just not right."

"I know what you mean," Tyson shuddered. "He holds himself differently than your typical person, and quite frankly, those eyes of his are the freakiest things I've ever seen – his pupils are _slitted_, for crying out loud!"

Kai nodded grimly. "And his height is extremely intimidating, especially with that build of his; as tall as he is and with a body that doesn't offer much wind resistance, I can imagine that running from him's a lost battle."

"He knows he's menacing and uses it to his advantage." Tyson worried at his lower lip. "Sheesh, no wonder Kas doesn't like him. I'll bet that's the real reason she skipped practice today; she may have been talking big, but I get the feeling she's as creeped out by him as that poor kid he was with – you saw how bad he was shaking, right?"

Kai snorted, "The question is, who didn't? It almost makes me wonder who was telling the truth: him, or your sister."

"But why would a team captain lie about practice?" Tyson frowned. "Even if he's a bit… off, he can't be _that_ cruel…" Tyson blinked in surprise as he suddenly found himself sprawled against the side of the bed, Kai hovering over him with a familiar challenging gleam in his garnet eyes. The fierce intensity in those eyes made the shorter boy shiver, even as he found himself grinning in anticipation.

"He's cruel, huh?" Kai murmured into the shell of his ear, one of his hands resting on his captive's thigh as the other snaked around him to carefully untangle the hair-tie from the dark, dark blue mane. "Then, does that make me kind?"

Tyson answered lowly, "Oh yes, _very_ kind… especially to _me_." He felt Kai's worn hand cup his chin, and parted his lips to meet the older youth's in a drinking kiss. Someone made a noise akin to a purr, neither knew, and Tyson slipped from being supported by the bed to the plush carpet, only parting to free Kai's hand from being trapped underneath their combined body weight.

Kai's freed hand wandered, slipping up the hem of Tyson's shirt as he pecked the lines of his features and lapped tenderly at the spot of blood dotting the dusky-eyed youth's lower lip from Tyson's earlier nipping. They met again in a soft embrace, and Kai's hands rose to cup Tyson's cheeks as they pulled apart and simply gazed into each other's eyes.

Tyson truly did look beautiful in that moment, Kai thought dazedly, with his midnight blue hair fanned out under him and his storm cloud blue eyes heavy and lidded in want and longing. His tawny skin glowed in the sun's departing rays of light, and the soft red staining the apples of his cheeks seemed surreal as gulls made faint cries in the distance, the sweet song of the coquí, as he later learned the tiny frogs were called, crooning on the sea-bound breeze.

He lowered his face again, and his partner lifted his up to meet his.

"You're not getting any dessert before dinner, Kinomiya." And Kai had the _gall_ to smirk as he pushed himself up from the floor and sauntered into the bathroom. "You'll ruin your appetite, and what would the others think?"

Tyson stared after him, propped onto his elbows with his dark hair tumbling down his shoulders and features flushed, before he managed to narrow his eyes irritably.

"Augh, _Kai_! Get back here, you damn _tease_!"


	9. A Rain on Parade

_LV: Okay, so this is a _little_ late in the making…_

_Kasumi: A _little_? LV, you're _weeks_ behind!_

_LV: What? Blame Mighty and Birdy for being too damn cute together! I had to get most of my otaku-glee out of my system before I could concentrate on VN again!_

_Birdy: …Now it's _our_ fault?_

_Sonbre: Lunare! A word about that irritating little brat that's been playing body… guard… -gapes at Birdy- Oh God, I think I just entered my own personal Hell._

_LV: Oh, good! I'm _not_ the only one who noticed the similarities! -grins-_

_Birdy: …?_

_Kasumi: Whoa, a bird-alien version of Kai… only prettier._

_Birdy: -glares- Who are you calling pretty?_

_Aya: He even glares like him; that is so cool! Does that make Mighty an alien version of Tyson, then? X3_

_Sonbre: …I'm leaving. -flees-_

_Kai: -smirks as he walks in- I like these new people already._

_Oh, and for the record, I'm not translating the Spanish chunk towards the end. You can either translate it yourself or wait for it to be revealed._

* * *

Viper's Nest

Written by Lunare Valhart

Batuken Shoot Beyblade is © Aoki Takao

All original characters are © Lunare Valhart, and are not to be used without permission

_**

* * *

Chapter 8: A Rain on Parade**_

An incessant ringing pulled Kai from the comfort of his subconscious, the images from dreams he would never fully remember washing into the dim light of early morning as he managed to open his eyes drowsily. The hotel room was tinged a muted red-gold from the sun peering out from over the ocean horizon, and the seawater's sparkling could easily be seen. The ringing continued as Kai sleepily narrowed his eyes in the vague direction of the perpetrator.

The simplistic white phone kept trilling, unperturbed by the glare. Off on the other side of its stand, Tyson made a pitiful groaning sound and proceeded to bury himself deeper into the plush blankets. Kai pinched the bridge of his nose, hefting himself up into a sitting position and mentally insulting whoever was on the other end of the line in every language he could think of for calling at dawn – the irony of _him_ normally being the early riser was either lost in the jet-lagged daze or conveniently ignored.

"This had better be good," he growled into the phone. There was what sounded like a smothered snicker on the other end.

"_You know,_" a familiar female voice managed to respond without laughing. "_Considering how Ty's always griping about you and your training schedules, I figured you'd be up and about by now. By the way, is sharing a room with him _really_ a smart thing to do, considering your situation with the media?_"

Kai blinked, surprised by two things: One, how on Earth was Tyson's _twin sister_ so cheery at this hour when it took Herculean effort just to drag Tyson out by nine; and two, as close as the two siblings seemed, how did she _not_ know that the tabloid was actually truthful?

'_Did Tyson never tell her?_' And more pressingly: "Why the hell are you calling at this hour?" He ground out.

"_I was curious if you guys wanted to practice with my team to make up for yesterday's mishap._" Kasumi then added, almost tersely, "_Because, you know, I _didn't_ skip practice like that asshole was saying._"

Kai glowered into the phone. "Your language certainly got more colorful overnight. How am I to know if you're not trying to weasel out of something else?" There was a scoff on the other end.

"_I don't cuss as much around family, genius. And I highly doubt any of you brought a _map_ with you, so unless you _like_ sharing the gym with God-knows how many other teams, I'd highly recommend fraternizing with locals._"

"We could ask Tyson."

"_He was here _once_ – when he was _eight_. I don't think you want to rely on six years' toll of a week-long visit._" Kai cursed to himself, running a hand through his hair. She may've been Tyson's sister, but Kasumi was certainly one snarky little…!

"Fine," he agreed at last. "But if this is just another excuse to sightsee with Tyson, family visits are his to make on his _own_ free time."

Much like the day before, Kasumi's voice went from bitter to cheery. "_Great! Ty's right; you _are_ a nice guy when you want to be! I'll see you guys at nine-thirty – just ask for Angel at the front and he'll take you guys straight to my place; that's where we're meeting. Bye!_"

As the dial tone began to drone after the click, Kai stared incredulously at the phone receiver in his hand. '_…Why do I feel like I just got us into something I'm going to regret?_'

…

Rei glanced up from poking at his eggs to give his captain an incredulous look. "Let me get this straight: we're going to visit Kasumi?"

"We're going to be training with her team, as well," Kai corrected curtly. Max made a face.

"Aw man, we gotta put up with that weirdo flirting with Tyson _again_?" He groaned, rolling his eyes at the recollection of the events the day before.

Kenny sighed as he closed his laptop with a soft click. "He makes me nervous, too. I spent a few hours last night searching for any information on him, but I could only get a small amount of tournament-related information and an even smaller amount of personal information."

"So, he's a low-profile kind of guy," Hiromi frowned. "It seems strange, considering how much he stands ou – hold it, how did you figure all this out?" Kenny paled and coughed discreetly, diverting his eyes. He'd forgotten that Hiromi didn't know just _how_ good at computers he was…

"What'd you find out, Chief?" Tyson cut in before Hiromi could begin one of her long-winded tirades on moral values and respect of privacy.

Kenny nodded and began. "He's been participating in several low-key tournaments around Latin America, though most were in the different states of Mexico; I say low-key because none of these tournaments required any background information like larger tournaments hosted by companies and foundations. The largest tournament he's ever participated in was last year's South American-Caribbean, where he was captain to a team called the Venomblades."

"Yeesh, he obsessed with snakes, or something?" Max gawked. "_He_ looks sorta like a snake, his old team name refers to snakes…"

"That's not even the creepiest part," Kenny winced. "Remember how Sra. Romero said yesterday that the two finalists were partnered up in the new diplomatic team? And how Kasumi mentioned her… injury happened during the finals?"

Tyson already didn't like where this seemed to be headed. "You mean to say he's the one responsible?"

"Not exactly; the official reports say that the dish actually malfunctioned and shot her blade right back at her before she could get out of the way. But yes, he was her opponent in the finals last year and general consensus is that he _is_ the one that manipulated the dish into doing so."

"Well, that certainly explains _why_ they need a diplomat team this year to begin with," Rei sighed. "Not to mention Kasumi's attitude about her new captain. I'd be pretty pissed, too, if the BBA suddenly decided to shove me on a team with Bryan and expected the two of us to get along."

There was a low, "I heard that, catty," from a few tables down, where the Russian boys of Neoborg were still struggling to cope with the unfamiliar humidity. Rei snickered at the sight they made, and continued to ignore them.

"So," Max began, clicking his tongue. "Where we going first?"

"To her place, or so she said," Kai answered. Tyson grinned a bit forcefully.

"Joy. We get to see Lina…" The others blinked.

Hiromi took the bait, however reluctantly. "Who's Lina?"

"She's Aunt Cheres' mother-in-law… or something like that, anyway," Tyson explained with a well-veiled grimace. "See, Aunt Cheres used to be married to a guy from here – which is why she lives here, by the way – and he died not even a month after they got married. Lina moved in with Aunt Cheres and that's how it's been since."

"…Tyson?"

"Yeah?"

"By any chance, does this have anything to do with your aunt's bitchiness?" Max asked flatly. Everyone gaped at him for the remark. "What? It explains why she's such a control freak!"

Kenny gave his dark-haired friend a strange look. "While Max does have a good theory about your aunt… what's the problem with Lina? You don't seem that enthusiastic about seeing her…"

Tyson coughed, a faint red staining his cheeks. "Uh… Lina's kinda… sorta… y'know… _off_."

Kai narrowed his eyes at him, a vaguely curious lilt to his voice as he asked, "Just how "off" is she?"

…

"TITO!"

Tyson had barely enough time to comprehend what was happening before a blur of silver and bright orange tackled him from its seat out on the covered porch. The others blinked in surprise, mildly disturbed at the scene before them.

The person was an elderly woman, mocha skin wrinkled and hanging loose over a bony frame and white-silver hair pulled back into a tight bun. Her bright orange sundress looked as it had only been changed from one hanger to another. Nevertheless, the old woman continued to fondle and play with the World Champion's hair and face and clothes as if she were no stranger to him.

"Er, uh," he groaned, knowing he would have a _lot_ to explain to his friends later. "Hi to you, too, Lina."

"That's no way to greet your abuela!" Lina tutted, fussing as she checked him over for anything that may seem the slightest bit dangerous. When her search ended up with nothing to bear, she squealed and hugged him tight once more. "Oh, it's been so long since I last saw you! You're so _big_!"

"…I feel like we've entered the Twilight Zone," Max managed to squeak out.

Lina looked up at the others and, much to their consternation, squealed.

"Are these your friends, Tito? They're all so cute!" She crooned, rushing up and near-tackling Kenny to the ground as the others backed away nervously. "Especially _this_ one¡Qué lindo!"

"Help!" Kenny choked out, reaching out for the others. Max held his hands up defensively and took another cautious step back.

"Sorry, buddy," the blond called out. "You're on your own!"

"And suddenly, Kasumi's mood swings make sense," Rei commented dryly. Hiromi smacked him on the arm.

Lina immediately released her iron grip on Kenny and shot towards her, causing the girl to yelp in surprise. "And such a pretty little girl! Tito, tell me one of these lucky boys is courting her!"

"She doesn't have a boyfriend as far as I know, Lina," Tyson sighed. Hiromi colored, wondering what was with people and assuming she was someone's girlfriend.

Rei was Lina's next target. The neko-jin twitched as she made a grab for his long hair, holding the tail like some sacred object. "And this is such _lovely_ hair! How long does it take you? Or does someone help you?" Before he could answer, she hobbled over to Max and gave him a tight squeeze.

"If _you_ aren't the cutest little gringo I've ever seen!" She laughed. Max tossed the others a desperate look, but Kenny shrugged and turned away, whistling to himself.

"Hey, Lina!" Kasumi's voice finally came from inside, and the girl's familiar scarred face came into view with a brush in hand. "Your security guard's slacking if… oh. Hey, guys!" She looked at the elderly woman sternly. "Lina, they're _nice_ people. If you want someone to harass, wait for the boys of _my_ team to come." Lina tittered.

"Sorry, chica," the woman answered lightly. "It's so hard to tell when Tito and you look alike and the only description you give me of that rude boy is his height and his obvious infatuation with Tito." Tyson and Kai both froze, though not enough to rouse suspicion, while Kenny and Hiromi groaned loudly and Max and Rei started snickering to themselves.

Kasumi sighed and, taking pity on the ruffled Japanese team, said to the elderly woman, "Speaking of my team… why don't you go wake up the girl in the casita?" Lina's brown eyes lit up.

"Ooh, that would be fun!" She practically bounced down the hall, humming to herself cheerfully. Everyone stared after her vanishing back with more than a little relief.

Kasumi leveled a flat glare towards Kai. "Yeah, you were asking before about how I can be perky at dawn? Try living with _that_ for a few years and see how long _you_ can sleep in."

"What took you so long, anyway?" Hiromi asked. Kasumi pointed up.

"Cheres told me – in no uncertain terms – that if I _really_ was going to use the house as a meeting point, I had to fold the laundry first. This normally isn't much of a problem, but it gets _really_ annoying having to chase lizards away from the drier." The brunette girl made a face.

"Ew…" She shuddered. "I think I saw one of those on my windowsill this morning."

Rei kept glancing in the direction Lina had vanished curiously. "Uh, Kasumi? Who's your other guest?"

"Dulcea. She's the fourth member of the team," the dark-haired girl answered without looking up as she finished brushing out the tangles and parted her hair to begin braiding it. Max blinked.

"Why does that sound familiar?"

Before he could continue, a high screech came from the direction the old woman had cheerily walked off.

"Ah, that'd be her," Kasumi noted offhandedly, never pausing in braiding her hair, slipping the elastic tie over the end with a faint snap. The others gave each other odd looks as a dark-skinned girl in shorts and an over-sized T-shirt bolted in with wide teal eyes and black curls framing her face, giving her some semblance to a dark-maned lion.

"Kas!" She squeaked, breathing heavily from her dash from the backyard, "Get your crazy grandma and her psycho mutt away from me!" She happened to notice the boys behind her teammate and screeched again, "Ah, perverts!" Kasumi snickered at everyone's expressions as Max blinked, immediately recognizing the girl's crankiness from the day before.

"Aren't you the girl from the plane?" He asked warily. Dulcea blinked and peered closely at him before laughing nervously.

"Oh, yeah… You're the cute blond from yesterday. I remember now!" Everyone gave Max a strange look, causing the Japanese-American to flush lightly. "A _joke_, people; he's cute, but he's really not my type." She glanced at Kasumi expectantly and the Japanese girl shrugged and pointed to a small closet. Dulcea turned to the Bladebreakers with a cheery grin. "Now please excuse me; I've gotta go back and reclaim the guest room from a nutty hag and her mutt so I can get dressed." With that, she pulled a broom out of the closet and stomped back down the hall.

Tyson gave his sister an odd look. "When did Lina get a dog?"

Kasumi shrugged. "One of the employees at the resort's dog had puppies while I was in the hospital and gave one to us as a get-well present." She made an annoyed face. "We got the brattiest one of the litter – go figure."

"Oh, it can't be _that_ bad…" Hiromi frowned.

"You've never met Bolero."

No sooner than she finished her sentence that a high-pitched barking rang through the house as a tiny, furry fireball darted between the girl's legs and started to growl in a manner meant to be intimidating at the newcomers. The tiny dog's small but sharp canines were bared as the animal snarled at them, dark button eyes glinting wildly. Everyone blinked.

Kasumi rolled her eyes and gently prodded the dog away with her foot, earning her a growl. "Speak of the devil – or Pomchi, whatever. That's Bolero; if you like your nose or fingers, I strongly suggest that you don't reach down to pet him."

"…Nose?"

"He jumps."

Kenny took a nervous step back. "Er… That's nice to know."

…

"For the record, where's your _captain_?" Kai asked suspiciously, noting the youth's absence and wondering if he should be glad or worried. Kasumi scoffed into her coffee, eye twitching.

Dulcea (now fully dressed) also snorted, crossing her arms over her chest and sulking into her chair. "Tch, ya mean Sonbre? Two-faced jerk. Told me yesterday before snagging Bobby and runnin' off that he scheduled practice over at the plaza in front of the cathedral, and I ended up waiting _hours_ there, and _no one_ showed up! I found out later that he was too busy stalking _you_ lot yesterday afternoon. I asked him when he _finally_ showed his face, and he had the _nerve_ to ask what I was on because he "didn't feel like putting up with Granger's whining" first day of being a team. _God_, I heard Señora Romero say they weren't the best of friends, but that was _ridiculous_!"

The six teenagers blinked in surprise. Rei stammered out, "Wait a second, you _didn't_ have practice yesterday?" Kasumi twitched again, this time a little more violently.

"What, you deaf or something?" Dulcea grumbled, taking another bite of her orange. "We did _not_ have _any_ practice yesterday!" The boys cringed, glancing at Kasumi apologetically.

"Gee, Kasumi," Max grimaced, feeling his face burn in shame. "We're _really_ sorry! We really should've believed you yesterday…"

"It's nothing," Kasumi ground out, forcing a grin but failing to hide the vaguely murderous gleam in her eyes. "I'm sure from _your_ angle, it all looked _very_ incriminating."

Dulcea, completely lost, looked back and forth between her rancorous teammate and the chagrined members of the Japanese team. "Eh? Something happen?"

"He used the practice charade on us, too," Kenny explained, bowing his head in embarrassment. "We ended up believing him that Kasumi skipped practice to spend time with Tyson."

Tyson sighed and propped his elbows up onto the table, rolling around the ball of sweet bread in his hand. "I don't get it, though – like the Chief said yesterday, Kas and I look nearly exactly alike. Why would Sonbre be nice to me, but rude to her?" Kasumi paled slightly and quickly seemed to find the remnants of coffee at the bottom of her mug interesting.

Before anyone could question her sudden change of behavior, Bolero suddenly lifted his head from his paws and let out a low growl. Startled by the small dog's abrupt snarling, they were shocked to find he had dashed out of the house while barking as viciously as a dog his size could.

"…What the heck was that all about?" Hiromi asked blankly after a moment of stunned silence. Kasumi grinned darkly and made a light-hearted shrug.

A very loud, very high-pitched shriek from further down the street, followed by a lower-pitched snarl of, "_Granger! I just know you're the one behind this!_" was the only answer they needed.

Innocently, Kasumi smiled at her guests. "Did I forget to mention that Bolero doubles as a surprisingly good watchdog?"

As she stepped out to retrieve the tiny dog, the others stared at her vanishing back in horror.

"…Tyson?"

"Yeah?"

"Remind us to never get on your sister's bad side," Max squeaked. The others, excluding Kai, nodded vigorously.

As soon as Kasumi waltzed onto the veranda, she was met with a barrage of both vehement curses and bawling shrieks from the two youths just outside her yard. Unperturbed, she continued to smile inappropriately cheerfully. "Good morning, Sonbre, Bobby! I hope you two slept well at Thais' place. You must've; you're late." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Gee, what kind of _team captain_ is late for their own practices?"

Snarling, Sonbre tried to shrug off Bobby – who, in his panic, had scrambled onto the nearest object to get out of the growling dog's reach (namely, him) – and hissed, "You know _damn_ well why we're late, puta! Not only does Thais live _five_ _blocks_ away from here, _you_ sicced this Goddamn _mutt_ on us!"

Kasumi blinked and finally noticed the red-gold bundle of fur hanging off the tall male's pant leg, teeth clenched tight onto the material and growling and wriggling. "Bolero! How many times have I told you that trash is not food?" The dog only growled louder in response.

Bobby let out a pathetic whine, "He's gonna eat me, he's gonna eat me, _he's gonna frickin' eat me – _!"

"Goddammit, shut your mouth!"

Undaunted, Kasumi shook her head patronizingly at the older teenager. "You know, children _do_ live in this neighborhood. If their parents hear them repeat half of what you're saying, the store's going to run out of soap! Not to mention give poor old ladies heart attacks."

"I could care _less_ about brats and hags!" Sonbre snapped, finally tossing Bobby off his back and virtually ripping off a startled Bolero by the dog's scruff. "I may have to put up with your bullshit for the duration of this Godforsaken tournament, Granger, but _no_ force in this damn universe is going to make me – !"

A head of blue-black hair peered out of the doorway, brow furrowed worriedly and dusky blue eyes flickering in concern. "Kas? What's going on out here?"

Abruptly, Sonbre's darkened features paled before flushing a bright scarlet and he scrambled to change his unsympathetic grip on Bolero into a more suitable position for the dog, a panicked and weak smile forced onto his features. " – I mean, _honestly_, Granger! Letting this poor creature run out into the street like that? Darling animal could have been run over!" Unconvinced, Bolero snarled and attempted to snap at the male's hands. Kasumi continued to smile, though the maniacally gleeful glint in her brown eyes gave her smugness away. Tyson blinked in confusion, sure he had missed something.

With the dog now safely out of reach, Bobby shot up from the pavement and dashed inside the house, lunging for the couch and shivering fiercely as he curled up into a wide-eyed ball. "Keep that thing away from me! It's _evil_!"

Max fought back a snicker as Rei leaned over. "Never thought we'd meet someone worse off than the Chief, huh?" Bobby nearly jumped off the couch as he whipped around to look at them, gaping with a stutter as he scooted as far away from Rei as he could manage.

"W-when did _you_ people get here?!" He forced out with a squeak.

Dulcea grinned at the boy, taking some perverse pleasure in seeing him and their team captain caught completely off-guard by their guests. "Aw, poor Bobby. Ya need a hug?" This earned her a glower from the mousy youth, causing her to snicker in response.

Kasumi dropped into a chair on the covered porch, a satisfied smile still painted onto her features as she looked down (up, really, but that wasn't the point…) at her still-flustered team captain from over her nose. "So, _capitán_, where are we training today? I'd _love_ to hear your ideas."

'_I ought to tear that _puta_ a new one for this!_' Sonbre growled mentally at her, the edges of the pleasant smile he had hurriedly forced out twitching slightly. '_Must keep calm, can't let the nice guy act slip, I _must_ keep calm…_' "The Caverns just west of here, actually. I'm sure you've been there, _Kasumi_?" He winced at the obvious amount of force he used to say the girl's name, mentally smacking himself for not simply calling her Granger like he had so many times before; Tyson was Japanese, why would it matter that he called his sister her first name or not?

Kasumi blinked before narrowing her eyes. "Why the Hell do you want to go _there_? Don't you know the place's haunted?" Kenny paled. "Sheesh, I should've known better than to let you choose the training spots…"

"There are no such things as ghosts, Granger," Sonbre said simply, giving her a smug look. "Why does it bother you so much, afraid?"

'_Who wouldn't be, with all the disappearances at the caverns?_' She thought bitterly, though her pride stung at the slight. "Who would? I'm just saying that 'cause the wimp over there's going to get a heart attack if we go." She gestured towards Bobby, who surprisingly didn't even flinch at the attention.

Aforementioned wimp shrugged, seeming very nonchalant about the whole affair suddenly. "Oh, come on, there's no proof ghosts exist. The most frightening thing there's gonna be the bats… and the boas… and the birds… and the mosquitoes possibly carrying deadly viruses…" He paled, as well. "Heck no! I'm not going!"

Max rose a brow, staring at him strangely. "You aren't scared of the fact it's possibly haunted, but the obvious things make you a nervous wreck?"

"And mosquitoes are going to get you regardless of whether or not you're in a cave," Dulcea pointed out flatly. Bobby whimpered.

A loud beep outside caught everyone's attention, and they peered out to see a taxi-van parked in front of the house. Kasumi made a weak grin as everyone gave her a look when they recognized the resort uniform the driver was wearing.

"What? It's not like I do this all the time!"

…

The caverns, it turned out, were deeper into the western mountains than they first thought, and they were forced to trek through the forests about a mile off the main road. Everyone followed Sonbre (some more reluctantly than others) down the trail, watching with some trepidation as the surrounding foliage started encroaching more and more onto the path. Sunlight started to dim the further they went, and a quick glance skyward showed clouds were blotching the sun from coming through.

Rei looked up towards the increasingly darkening skies with a frown. "Are you sure we should be out? It looks like it's going to rain."

Dulcea shrugged off the concern with a nonchalant wave of her hand, "Eh, it rains all the time here."

"What's wrong, scared of a little water?" Bobby sneered as he looked over his shoulder superiorly at the Chinese neko-jin. Rei bristled and narrowed his eyes irritably at him. '_I take back my earlier comment to Max; that kid's _nothing_ like Kenny!_'

Kasumi sighed and pulled out some folded pieces of soft plastic, tossing one to each of the Bladebreakers. "I'd suggest putting those ponchos on – just in case water isn't your thing."

A single drop hit the pavement.

"And make it fast," she added, pulling up her own hood.

The next thing they knew, they were completely drenched in a torrential downpour. Kenny yelped and darted under the umbrella with Bobby and Hiromi, glad that he wasn't any taller. The others, not quite as lucky, were soaked thoroughly.

Max brushed aside his dripping bangs and glowered at the umbrella-holding Bobby. "You call _this_ "a little water"!?"

He shrugged, the rain making heavy thuds against the woven fabric above his head. "Hey, it isn't _my_ fault you didn't look over any travel guides about this place before you arrived."

"I agree with Max, quite frankly," Hiromi muttered, peering out and surprised that she could barely make out anything in the downpour. "This isn't what one normally calls a little water…"

Kenny clutched the waterproof bag in his hands to him in relief. "Thank goodness I had the foresight to put my laptop in here! The circuits would have fried in all this rain!"

Sonbre kept his eyes trained onto the path, brow furrowed in concentration but face flickering with conflicting emotions. He could hear the wet cloth glide over delicate skin, he could smell the rain melding with the faint human musk and soap, he could imagine the soft dips and lines as the soaked cloth clung to the petite figure, if he would _just_ look over his shoulder…

'_Granger. What's-Her-Face tagging along. Bitchy hotel manager that, unsurprisingly, is Granger's aunt._'

But, she was also _his_ aunt… and he was so different from her, so soft and gentle…

'_Granger's ugly, scarred face! Pink-haired neko-jin that hissed at me yesterday for bumping into her! Geeky redhead with glasses that snapped at me for no good reason!_'

…Did his hair look even silkier in the rain, the drops of water beading onto that gorgeous dark cascade like morning dew…?

'_Granger! Granger! Granger!_'

…Well, she _did_ have many of _his_ features…

This wasn't working.

"Quit arguing with the gringo and keep moving," Sonbre ordered coldly, eyes still strongly focused on the path in front of him. "The caverns are dead ahead, and I'm _sure_ some of you would prefer the fact it's shelter."

Unwilling to argue, everyone's pace quickened, eager to get out from the downpour.

…

Practice itself went without a hitch, the two teams more or less only interacting if someone started going a bit too far into the caverns. Kenny had made a point on staying as close to the lighted entryway as possible, Hiromi hovering around to keep out of the other's way and observe the beybladers at work for the first real time. The rain made the cavern floor damp and gave little traction, forcing everyone to concentrate more on control than any other aspect. However, there _had_ been a mishap involving an unsuspecting Tyson, a particularly slippery patch of moss, and an opportunistic Sonbre that resulted in a heated ear-bashing for the latter to mind his own personal space; as far as the flustered Japanese youth was concerned, it was never to be mentioned again – Kasumi and Kai (who, by all rights, should have made the perpetrator ash _and_ six-feet under the way they were glaring at him) agreed wholeheartedly.

About halfway back to the road where the taxi-van was waiting, a beeping rendition of a song the Japanese in the group swore came from a recent anime opening started up. Kasumi flushed at the looks she was receiving and pulled out a mobile from her pocket, flipping it open and daring anyone to comment on the plush accessory dangling from it with a glower. "Yeah. What do you want, Cheres?"

There was a moment of silence as Kasumi first rolled her eyes, possibly at a lecture, then groaned, "More?! How does she go through it so quickly? We filled up _five bottles_ three weeks ago! …Yeah, yeah. I _know_; she uses it for just about _everything_… Ugh, fine. I'll tell the freak and the others. Later." She snapped the phone shut and gave the group a tired look. "We've gotta make a detour before we head back. Lina's out of her "miracle" water."

Hiromi gave her a wary look, recalling the woman's behavior that morning. "What do you mean by "_miracle_ water"?" Max made a face in agreement.

"And do we _want_ to know?" He asked nervously.

Kasumi snickered at everyone's expressions. "I know it sounds bad, but it really is just fresh spring water – nothing illegal or alcoholic."

Kai gave her an even stare. "Is this necessary?" The girl, to his surprise, shuddered.

"Once again, _you_ don't live with her," she answered simply. "You have _no_ idea how bad she gets if she can't have her precious water. She thinks it keeps her clean – she's under some odd delusion that demons are constantly trying to get into her, so only _this_ water will do."

Kenny asked, a hint of curiosity in his voice, "Why? Water is water, right?"

"Not when it comes from a spring near a church, apparently," she sighed, rolling her eyes once more.

As they continued down the path, they completely missed Bobby, in an uncharacteristic manner, step up to Sonbre and give him a worried look. "Hey, Sonbre. You gonna be okay?"

The much-taller youth shook out of the daze he hadn't even realize he'd fallen in, and glanced down to meet the concerned boy's light blue eyes. "Yeah. Don't worry about me; I'll be fine."

…

The sound of a car pulling up the gravel road caught the attention of the group of women with baskets full of offerings from their homes and neighborhoods. They looked at each other curiously, wondering with soft whispers if it was another group of tourists. Those seemed to be fairly common; either that, or other islanders from the cities along the highways beyond the mountains.

A dark gray van with a bright logo imprinted along its side slowed to a stop in the lot, its side door sliding open to reveal a rather motley group of young teenagers inside as they filed out, some with cheerful faces, others with more sour-looking dispositions.

"Okay, the spring's about a quarter-mile down the path," the dark-haired girl with them explained somewhat curtly. "So just follow it and you'll see it; you can't miss it." She turned to give the others a testy look, and the countrywomen chewed at their lower lips and turned their heads piteously from the gruesome-looking scar marring the right half of her face. They had seen her numerous times with a frigid woman and sometimes a pleasant elderly woman, though this had to be the first they had seen her accompanied by peers. Perhaps this is what the people in the cities called "group therapy"?

As far as they could tell, it looked like the others needed the spring water about as much as the poor scarred girl, if not more. Never before had they seen so many strange children together like this. The littlest boy looked like he was afraid even of his own shadow, bright eyes flitting around in borderline irrational fear. The darker-brunette boy with glasses kept clutching a dark bag to him, as if it held something of great importance. The brunette girl seemed rather short-tempered, much like the poor scarred girl and yet without the helpless burden of seeing too much in a short lifetime. The black-but-not-quite girl seemed utterly confused, looking almost lost in the crowd. Another boy had the same hair color as the poor scarred girl, and though his eyes were a dark blue and his features unmarred and light, there was definitely something _too_ "cheerful" about him that made them frown in disapproval; and the blond American seemed no different, launching himself so boldly at the others with a grin on his face more suitable for a dog greeting its owner.

But it was the tall ones that looked particularly menacing; the one with crow-black hair's eyes were too slanted and such an unnatural feline-esque yellow, the one with hair of coal and steel had burning eyes of frozen fire, and the last…

The youngest bit back a gasp as he glanced over, and all the women soon found themselves looking away with ashen features and quickened breaths. The plain gold crosses they wore around their necks were gripped tight as they repeated prayers to the Lord to protect their souls from… _whatever_ they had just seen. The stoniness of those features spoke of danger and deceit, the sharp lines of his brooding figure screeched of pain and power, but those _eyes_… those paralyzing peridot eyes that whispered of temptation and forbidden treasure and _sin_ and…

"Esos ojos no son de gente," spat one of them scathingly, though the shaking of her cross-clutching hand gave away her anxiety. The others nodded accordingly.

"Es un diablo¡debe ser él!"

"¿No debemos dejarlos ir al manantial?"

"Están intentando quizá curarlo…"

"Debemos decir al sacerdote, por si a caso."

There was a group murmur of agreement, and the women hurriedly skittered into the church in a flurry of cotton skirts and their woven baskets. They closed the heavy wooden doors behind them without a second glance, eager to put something – _anything_ – between them and the youth with such piercing green eyes.

Sonbre frowned vacantly at the church's imposing double doors, having heard every word.

…

"Jeez, Flavien, what took you?" Kasumi sneered as the youth caught up from behind, hands shoved into his pockets and features oddly guarded. "The church-goers there try to exorcize you or something?"

He scowled at her. "If anyone here needs exorcizing, it would be _you_, Granger. _You're_ the one with a face to scare Satan." Kasumi jolted back, eyes wide with shock before her expression steeled into a twisted snarl.

"Like you can talk, _Snake Eyes_," she spat at him darkly. "Little kids get nightmares just looking at you!"

Sonbre snorted derisively, "I think you're confusing me for you, _caricorta_. There's obviously a _reason_ you grew out your bangs…"

"Are you saying I'm ashamed of my face, bastard?"

"I'm afraid _you're_ the one who said it," he shrugged callously as she ground her teeth at him angrily. "You should wear a mask; less likely to fly off, I've been told."

"And _you_ should lock yourself in a church basement!" She finally snapped, her knuckles white as she clenched her fists in a feeble attempt to control her temper. "Maybe listening to sermons several times a day'll get your screwed-up head on straight!"

Sonbre stopped in his tracks, staring at her with a detached look that disappeared too quickly for her to name. "Congratulations, Granger. You've officially proven yourself to be lower than I thought possible."

Before Kasumi could argue, he walked ahead to fall into step with a slightly more nervous than usual Bobby, vivid green eyes almost too sharp for comfort.


	10. Once Bitten, Twice Shy

_LV: So, CL, you liking your new partner?_

_CL: I like him a lot better than Mana, I'll tell you that!_

_Shirobon: Who's Mana?_

_CL: Eh, some freaky little mouse-girl… thing. Anyways, I challenge you to a Bombchu Bowling match!_

_Shirobon: Sure! Prepare to lose to the master! –they run off–_

_LV: …Hey. What about me? I need protection after this! Come back!_

_Mana: What about me?_

_Aya: No offense, but… Sonbre's not really afraid of you like he is of Shirobon._

_Mana: Hmph!_

_Extra Note: "Janken" is short for "janken pon", the Japanese name for Rock-Paper-Scissors. "Aiko deshou" is what's called out when you have a tie-breaker._

* * *

Viper's Nest

Written by Lunare Valhart

Batuken Shoot Beyblade is © Aoki Takao

All original characters are © Lunare Valhart, and are not to be used without permission

_**

* * *

Chapter 9: Once Bitten, Twice Shy**_

As soon as they had come back from the spring, several bottles of water in hand, Lina had greeted them all as enthusiastically as earlier that morning before grabbing the bottles and dashing inside. Before anyone could leave, however, she came back and insisted fervently that everyone stay for dinner.

Lina placed down a heavily food-laden plate perkily in front of a bug-eyed Bobby, who, along with several others, was beginning to wonder if the woman was trying to stuff them for other purposes. "Now eat up, everyone! After all that hard work today, you deserve a good meal!"

"On the plus side," Max commented weakly, poking the rice pile with his fork and eyeing the sticky glob that came out with it nervously, "you can't say you were starved as a child."

Kasumi scoffed. "And _you_ can't say you didn't eat well at my place."

"Where's your aunt?" Hiromi asked, glancing around for the woman. Kasumi rolled her eyes.

"She has dinner at the hotel usually and comes home around ten," the girl explained. "She's a real workaholic."

Kenny gave the food a wary look. "This is enough to feed a small army. Ms. Lina really expects us to eat all this?"

"I'd recommend against it," Dulcea cringed. "I may not know as much about this culture as Kas or Sonbre might, but I _do_ know that eating everything on the plate translates in their minds as, "I'm starved, feed me more!" The Asian teens blinked.

"That's…" Rei began, unsure of how to finish his remark. "…Kinda weird, actually."

"Where we're from, it's a compliment to the chef to finish everything," Hiromi blinked. Dulcea shrugged.

"Well, you know what they say," Tyson commented cheerfully as he took another bite. "You can learn a lot about other cultures from their food!"

"How true," Sonbre suddenly agreed, causing everyone to look at him with a hint (or more) of annoyance. Everyone rolled their eyes and groaned silently to themselves, knowing where this would end up heading. Kasumi glowered darkly at him, her fork-wielding hand clenching into a fist and shaking slightly with the pressure. Tyson gave him a suspicious sideways glance but otherwise ignored him.

Kai, however, also narrowed his eyes at him and regarded his schooled expression with distaste. '_He's really starting to get on my nerves. He doesn't actually think that he's going to be forgiven for that stunt he pulled earlier, does he?_'

In a bizarre attempt to break the heavy air that had settled over the group, Bolero suddenly gave a strange yip and lunged at Rei's dangling hair. The neko-jin yelped, feeling the tug as everyone turned toward him in surprise. "Ow! Stupid mutt!" He swore loudly, "My hair's not one of your chew-toys! Let go!"

Bobby glanced down at the dog and sputtered, coughing up the rice he had tried to swallow with tears in his eyes. Hiromi looked as well before flushing brightly and turning away immediately, biting her lower lip. Kenny blinked and gave Rei a nervous look.

"Er, hate to break it to you, Rei," he winced, "but the dog's not _chewing_ at your hair…" The implication hung in the air as the Chinese youth's face paled.

Max kept his eyes averted, but managed weakly, "Well, we can't say now that the dog doesn't like _one_ of us."

"Max," Rei ground out darkly. "You're not helping. At all."

…

The rest of the meal was fairly uneventful, though Rei insisted he wanted to be nowhere near Bolero. That had resulted in Kasumi carrying the dog out to the garage with a towel so the animal wouldn't snap at her fingers and the subsequent, thinly-veiled jeers tossed in her direction by Sonbre. The dog's whimpering from the garage aside, their meal ended in silence.

A quick call to the resort later, and the Bladebreakers were now waiting outside on the veranda for their taxi-van to take them back. Rei was picking at his hair wrap with a sour look on his face. Kenny had nestled himself into one of the chairs with his laptop open. Tyson was also reclining on another chair, idly watching Max and Hiromi's rock-paper-scissors game. Kai kept his standing position against the wall, his expression pensive.

Tyson groaned as he ruffled his bangs, "Sheesh, I somehow get the feeling Aunt Cheres is trying to get even for having to put up with us in her house by ordering the taxi-van to be late."

Max shrugged in half-agreement before his face fell at Hiromi's fist over his two fingers. "Dangit, I lost again?"

"Sorry, Max," the girl laughed, buffing her fingernails proudly. "I'm just good at this game!" The blond laughed as well, not at all offended.

"Hey, let's go another round. I'll beat you sooner or later!"

Kenny gave them an odd look. "Do I even _want_ to know why you two are playing janken?"

They both shrugged as Hiromi answered, "We're bored." She blinked when she saw they both had their hands spread out. "A tie, huh? Aiko deshou!"

"Aiko deshou!" They blinked again when they saw they both had fists. Max groaned, "Oh no, don't tell me this is going to turn into one of those never-ending stalemates…"

As they continued with their game, Rei glanced over to Kai and saw the other teen hadn't lost his terse expression since dinner. Quirking a brow at him, he asked, "Something eating you?"

"That guy," Kai grumbled, glancing inside irritably. "I don't like him one bit."

Rei scoffed, "Who, Sonbre? Don't blame you. I make a point not to be on friendly terms with anyone that seems to think a dingy wet cave is a good place to train. I nearly lost my blade a few times because of the lack of traction!" He then tapped his chin reflectively. "Huh, and now that I think about it, those ladies we saw at the spring were giving us weird looks, too…"

"They were scared of us, I think," Kai frowned, remembering the wary looks on their faces. "I have no idea what they may've been saying, but it was obvious in the way they were acting." Rei's expression sobered and he frowned, as well.

"Okay, so no joking around, then." The neko-jin sighed, folding his legs underneath him and glancing back up at his team captain. "I suppose you've also noticed that he's been rather subdued since we arrived at the spring a few hours back? And that Kasumi seems a bit more tense than usual?"

"I overheard them making quite a few rude remarks to each other when we were headed down," Kenny said, having heard their conversation and adding in his own two cents. "Honestly, their comments were really uncalled-for. I just looked up what I heard Sonbre call Kasumi – caricorta, I think – and it's a slang term meaning 'scarface.' On top of that, Kasumi started calling him Snake Eyes. I'd say they were acting like children, but children usually aren't cussing each other out."

Kai shook his head. "I'm finding it harder and harder to believe that she's Tyson's sister, much less his twin." The other two looked at him in surprise. "She looks a great deal like him, but it seems that's where the similarities end. She's ruder, she's considerably more temperamental, she's quite the grudge holder…"

"But in her defense," Rei commented, "she's also more serious than he is, she's quieter, she's not as naïve…"

There was a sudden slam deeper into the house that jolted everyone out of their boredom, and Bobby's frightened squeaking could only barely be heard over Bolero's barking. They exchanged nervous glances as Dulcea burst through the door, teal eyes wide with fear that filled with relief when she saw them.

"Guys, thank God you're still here!" She gasped as she caught her breath. "It's Kas and Sonbre – they're at each other's throats, you've gotta help us stop them from mauling each other!"

…

Inside, the earlier tension was heavier than ever. No longer was Kasumi attempting to be civil to Sonbre, nor was Sonbre pretending to tolerate her.

Kasumi's face was pressed against the wall mirror, the glass fogging with her labored breath. One hand was against into her attacker's jawbone, nails digging into his skin while the other was trying to keep her own neck from being snapped at the amount of pressure he was applying. A booted foot was pressed against his body in vain to push him away as her teeth gritted together and her eyes began to mist with tears she refused to shed.

Sonbre had one hand forcing her head against the mirror's surface, not caring whether or not he was pulling hairs as his other hand was tightly wrapped around her wrist to prevent her from digging her nails in too deep. Being considerably stronger than the girl, he tightened his grip and found it grimly satisfying to hear her whimper weakly before smothering it. In the closet, he could hear the old woman cry and pound against the locked door.

"Is there anything you want to _say_, Granger?" He hissed into the girl's ear. "An apology, perhaps? Or maybe a plea for your _life_?"

"H-heartless bastard!" Kasumi spat, refusing to let the fear bubbling in her gut show through. "Y-you don't know a thing about love!"

"Then perhaps you shouldn't have brought up that tabloid about your brother and Hiwatari," Sonbre snarled darkly. "I can show you a _real_ Godforsaken monster if you're so interested in seeing one with your own eyes."

"I'm looking at one!" She snapped back, "What kind of lunatic _are_ you? You can't prove anything if I get killed!"

Sonbre laughed lowly, lip curling and the light catching a growing fang that caused the girl to pale. "'Thou shall not kill' – one of the Ten Commandments, if you'll recall. I'm not a complete imbecile, Granger. Killing you wouldn't be half as much fun as seeing you suffer _for the rest of your damn life_!"

Bobby shook fearfully as he tugged on Sonbre's shirt, trying vainly to get him to release Kasumi. "Sonbre, stop! Don't hurt her!" He yelped and let go in time to duck Sonbre's incoming fist as the much taller male glared at him out of the corner of his eye.

"Dammit, Bobby, back off!"

"S-Sonbre, think of the tournament!" Bobby cried as he fought against his growing urge to run and hide at the murderous glint in the other male's wild eyes. "Think of what –!"

Sonbre snarled again, "I don't _care_ what anyone thinks, Bobby! And if you don't want _your_ neck get snapped in two next, I'd suggest _shutting the Hell up_!"

As a last resort, Bobby cried frantically, "Sonbre, _think of who you're hurting_! She's –!"

A sudden, loud crack caused the room to fall deathly silent. Kasumi, no longer having any support, dropped to the floor, brown eyes wide and terrified. Sonbre had backed away from her, staggering and with a disbelieving, hurt expression etched into his face. A hand rose shakily to the faint spattering of red beginning to surface around his eye as he stared in shock at the youth forming a human barrier between him and the shaking girl.

"How dare you." Dark blue eyes were steeled coldly, very unlike their owner's usual expressions as Dulcea rushed in and kneeled next to her teammate warily. The taller male's bright jade eyes immediately lost their ill intent, and were as shaken as the rest of him.

"Tyson…" Sonbre swallowed thickly, "Tyson, I… th-this isn't what…"

"It isn't what it looks like?" Tyson finished skeptically, voice icy. "You weren't just hurting my sister? You weren't just implying that you were going to make her _wish_ she was dead?"

Desperately, Sonbre pleaded, "Tyson… _please_… I-I didn't mean…" He immediately realized this was the wrong thing to say when the younger youth's normally kind eyes became even more frigid.

"You didn't mean it?" Tyson repeated with growing ire. "You didn't _mean it_? Then _why_ did you _do_ it!?"

Sonbre quailed under the Japanese boy's anger, tentatively reaching out a hand to calm him. "Tyson…"

"Don't "Tyson" me! And don't you dare touch me!" The older youth's hand immediately withdrew, and he glanced away shamefully as Tyson continued to rage at him, "You have some _nerve_ going around two-faced like this! You've lied to our faces, tried to get Kas in our bad books, given my friends the cold shoulder, all but manhandled me earlier, now _this_? What kind of sick obsession do you _have_?!"

Sonbre shook his head, eyes frantic, "Tyson, it's not an obsession! It never has been, it never was! Please, if you'd just let me –"

Kai stepped into the room and stood next to Tyson, garnet eyes narrowed sharply at the other teen. "He _said_ not to touch him, _Flavien_. And if you try, _I'll_ be the one making _you_ wish you were dead."

"Kai, please," Tyson frowned, glancing up at him. "Don't sink to his level."

The other male's eyes widened marginally, flicking from Tyson to Kai and back again, before narrowing suspiciously and strains of the earlier steel began to seep back into his tanned features. "So it's true. That… that _nonsense_ in the tabloids is _true_?"

Tyson staggered a bit, caught off-guard by the observation, and just barely managed to rein in his flush to shoot back, "It's just stupid gossip! And you have no right to call us out on it!"

Sonbre, however, ignored Tyson's outburst and whipped to Kai with a snarl. "Tell me, Hiwatari! Is it _true_ you have feelings for Tyson?"

"I don't see why you have any right to know if I do or don't, Flavien," Kai growled back. Tyson's expression faltered as he looked at Kai frantically.

"Kai, _please_! Stop!"

"Forgive me, Tyson," Sonbre bit out as he continued to glare down at the dual-haired youth, "but stay out of this. This is between me and this undeserving, power-hungry rich-kid bastard!"

Kai flinched at the obvious jab at his past history, gritting his teeth to hold back the waves of guilt before snapping back, "Undeserving? _Me_? I'm not the one who's bringing up demons –!"

Almost immediately, Sonbre's face darkened and he snarled with an animalistic ferocity, "_Never_ say that word in my presence, Hiwatari – _Never_!"

Kasumi reacted. With a violent jolt, she pushed away from Dulcea and scrambled for the door. In the other room, everyone watched in dumbfounded shock as the girl bolted past them. Another moment's hesitation caused Tyson to swear and take chase.

"Kas? Kas!"

Max blinked as Tyson shot out the front gate and down the street after the girl, giving the others a worried look. "Guys, what the heck's going on here?"

Rei frowned, eyes flitting to Kai as he and Sonbre stepped out and gaped after Tyson's disappearing form. "I don't know, but I don't like it one bit…"

…

After releasing Lina from the closet, they had realized they had no way of getting in contact with either Kasumi or Tyson, and thus had no way of knowing where they were. Lina had suggested they go to Kasumi's best friend, seeing as they had spent much of their childhood years exploring the area together, thus knowing which places she would most likely go if she were to run off. When asked where she lived, Lina only looked pointedly at Sonbre and Bobby and frowned at them.

Now, they were standing in front of a more modest home in the neighborhood, the upstairs clearly under rent by another family. Bobby headed the group, and nervously looked over his shoulder at everyone before clearing his throat.

"W-well, this is Thais' place," he announced meekly. "She, uh, won't maul us for letting this happen to Kasumi… will she?" It took everyone a moment to realize he was asking a question, and everyone glanced over at Sonbre.

The olive-haired youth snorted coldly, folding his arms over his chest as he tried to ignore the fact everyone's gazes kept wandering to the darkening blotch over his eye. "She's obliged not to dismember me, unlike the Guardias would if they caught wind of this, since I'm family." The Asian teens gave him an odd look.

"…You're related to the one person you can't stand's best friend?" Max asked incredulously.

Hiromi muttered under her breath, "That must be awkward for her…"

Bobby turned back to the door and winced. "Well… Here goes." He knocked before tentatively calling, "Uh, Thais? It's us."

The door opened and a teenage girl with dirty-blonde hair to her chest peered out at them. "Bobby?" She asked in surprise, "Why're you back so soon? I thought you and Sonbre had something to…" She glanced up and caught sight of her cousin, causing her to gasp in shock as she flipped on the porch light and saw the swelling bruise decorating his face. "Sonbre! What happened to you?!"

To their bemusement, Sonbre glanced away similarly to the manner he did when confronted by Tyson earlier. "…Granger and I…" He began nervously, "had a bit of a disagreement."

Kai rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to snort. '_That's the biggest understatement I've heard in ages_.'

Thais' brow furrowed as a disappointed frown settled on her features. "You got into _another_ fight with Kas? Sonbre!" The male growled.

"I know, I _know_!" He snapped, "I said I'd _try_ to keep my temper in check around her, but it's not like I was the only one at fault! I have my pride!"

"Oh, yes," Kai huffed scornfully, glowering at him. "It's really something to take pride in when you make a girl cry, Flavien."

Sonbre whipped around to glare at him darkly. "Stay out of this, Hiwatari."

Thais looked at the two and groaned as things clicked into place. "Oh, sweet mother of God…" She gave her cousin a withering look. "Sonbre, I _know_ you were upset about that tabloid, but it's no reason to be taking it out on Kas! Besides, _she_ doesn't believe it's true – and considering Tyson's her brother, I think she's got more authority on the matter than some reporter who's next to never actually _spoken_ with him."

Kai's brow furrowed marginally as he recalled Kasumi's comment about the rooming earlier that morning. '_So she really _doesn't_ know about us…_'

"And that still doesn't explain why you have a black eye, Sonbre," the blonde continued, giving him a suspicious look. "If you hurt Kas…"

"I-it wasn't Kasumi!" Bobby blurted out, immediately slapping his hands over his mouth when Sonbre whipped around to glare at him. Thais' expression became confused.

"But, if _Kas_ didn't punch him – and God knows how much she wants to…" She mentally did a head-count of the other teens and her eyes widened in shock. "Oh no… You don't mean that…?"

"Yeah," Max nodded, causing her to gasp. "Tyson socked him one. And as you can probably tell, he didn't hold back, either."

As Thais eyed her cousin piteously, Kenny cleared his throat to get her attention. "Miss Thais, Kasumi ran off while Sonbre redirected his attention to Tyson and Kai. Tyson went after her, but none of us have any way of contacting them. Ms. Lina said that you'd most likely know where she could've gone. Would you help us?"

"…Kasumi does have specific places she goes when she's upset about something," Thais answered after a long moment. "However, it may be best that Tyson's the one to talk to her, not me. Give her a thirty minutes or so – if she isn't back by then, I'll take you to her spots." She glanced disappointedly at Sonbre before turning to Bobby. "Bobby, could you make sure Sonbre tends to himself here? I'll go back to Kas' house with the Bladebreakers and Dulcea; she might feel more comfortable coming back if Sonbre isn't in the house with everyone."

The boy nodded and glanced up nervously at Sonbre, who sighed and trudged inside as Thais nodded to the others. "Come on, let's go."

The secluded underpass was mostly empty, lit only by the headlights of passing cars overhead. The trickling creek murmured gently along the rocks, the tiny lapping of water against the pebbled shore heard barely over the traffic above. Somewhere in the distance, cowbells could be heard and the heavy scent of natural fertilizer drifting from the other shore made the otherwise-invisible fence apparent.

This was where Tyson finally caught up with Kasumi. He saw a curled up ball on one of the overhanging rocks, a single extended foot dangling over the edge and just shy of touching the water's surface. He bit at his lower lip and climbed up, wondering to himself why this place seemed to fit the girl's mood despite its peaceful appearance.

"Kas?" He pressed gently when he arrived at the rock's peak, shifting his own weight so that he could sit in mild comfort. "You wanna talk?"

Without looking up, Kasumi asked softly, but hurt still evident in her voice, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Tyson flinched. He should have realized that she would notice his and Kai's interaction earlier – it wasn't much of a stretch to connect it to the conversation. "I'm really, _really_ sorry about that, but…" He glanced away. "It's not just _my_ secret; it's Kai's, too." He added lowly, though more to himself than an actual accusation, "Besides, _you_ didn't tell me about your face…"

Abruptly, Kasumi's head shot up from her arms and she looked at him with wild, fearful eyes. "I couldn't say anything!" She stammered out, "If I did, he'd know and –!" She caught herself and bit at her lower lip, turning away and avoiding Tyson's concerned gaze.

"Kas," he pried softly, "who's this "he"?" When she didn't answer, he sighed, "Is it Sonbre?" She tensed visibly. "Kas, please. Say something."

"I _can't_ tell you," she whimpered finally. "You don't know what he'd do to me if he found out you knew. Sonbre's not like all your other crazy-weird fanboys, Ty – he's _dangerous_!"

"You mean like the fact he was your opponent in the finals last year?" Tyson supplied gruffly, watching her stiffen again. "Or that it's generally believed that he's the one responsible for your scar?"

"How did you find out?"

"Having a computer geek as a friend has its benefits," he shrugged. "Was that why you were so sketchy on the details yesterday?"

Slowly, Kasumi nodded. "Yes." Nervously, she added, "Please, though, don't treat him differently that you have, even if it annoys me to no end! If he knew, the rest of my time being forced to cooperate with him will be a living Hell! I already know that for pissing him off while you were around will make him even harder on me, but it's worth knowing that I gave you some sort of heads-up on what kind of guy he is without actually telling you!"

Tyson blinked at her outburst before he frowned irritably. "Hey, I'm the older one here! If anything, _I_ should be the one helping _you_! You shouldn't put yourself at risk over something as pointless as that! And besides," he calmed somewhat and heaved a sigh, "I found it out from the Chief just this morning. Did you ever see me being rude or mean to him today before he decided to attack you?" He paused, then made a face. "Well, other than the thing that happened in the caverns this afternoon, because that was just uncalled for."

"…No." Kasumi sighed herself and glanced away. "No, you hadn't been. Not until you tore him a new one back there." She looked back at her brother with a weighted expression. "I… I'm really sorry about dragging you into all this, Ty – you _and_ your friends. It's just that… You don't know him, not like I do. What you saw tonight… This isn't as angry as he can get." She drew her bended leg closer to her torso, hugging it as she continued bitterly, "Believe me, I _know_. He… attacked me like this the night before the finals last year. Said I was a complete disgrace, a mockery of all he ever fought for… I didn't get it.

"Then he mentioned that my eyes were as full of muck as my personality. He then went off on some stupid tangent about somebody with "eyes as vast and beautiful as the heavens" or something like that." She snorted at the memory but sobered. "Then it hit me. He was talking about _you_."

Tyson gaped, staring at her in wide-eyed disbelief. "What? But, how? Why? I was barely known outside of Japan back then!"

"That's a mystery, even to me," Kasumi grumbled. "All I knew was that, the way he kept talking about you, he _had_ to be under some sick delusion that you and he were going to live some sort of weird happily-ever-after. It was creepy – _he_ was creepy. We were rubbing each other the wrong way from the start, but do you really think I'd let him anywhere near you when he's got fantasies like _that_?"

"So it _is_ true, then," Tyson frowned, looking down into the creek. "Kai and I were kind of hoping it'd just been our imaginations yesterday when we met the guy, but considering everything that happened today…"

"Yeah," Kasumi agreed distantly as she rested her chin on her knee. "You wanna know something else? Thais – you know, my best friend that went to go blade with her cousin? Turns out he's Sonbre. That's why I don't like talking to her about these things; she's as obligated to take his side as she's entitled to defend me." She brushed away her bangs, fingers just tracing the raised edges of her scar. "So for that reason, she keeps trying to tell me that Sonbre never meant to get me in the face that day. But then… Then I remember what he said to me in the alley the night before: "When I'm through with you, no one will ever be able to confuse you with your brother again." With that, she rested her scarred cheek against her arms and tightened her grip on her body. "And it always makes me wonder if it really was an accident…"

Tyson felt his eyes prick at the helplessness in the normally headstrong girl's voice, and he leaned over to pull her into what he hoped was a comforting embrace. "Oh, Kas…"

…

Max sighed as he reluctantly sat down after checking the window for any sign of either Tyson or Kasumi for the fifth time in just as many minutes. "This doesn't feel right. We shouldn't be sitting here just waiting for Tyson and Kasumi to show up…"

Everyone gave their own mumbled agreements. Hiromi looked up at Thais curiously. "Thais… you're Kasumi's best friend, right?" When the girl nodded, she continued, "Do you have any idea why she and Sonbre hate each other so much?"

Thais looked away, sighing, "It's a long story…"

"We've got time," Rei shrugged.

"Not long before Kas moved here from Japan," Thais began slowly. "My parents and I received the news from my aunt – Sonbre's mom – that her uncle had died Sonbre had run away form home. I was devastated; Sonbre and I got along fairly well, despite the fact we only knew what the other looked like through pictures. Then we heard the news that a new girl all the way from Japan was moving into town." Thais laughed wistfully at the memory. "The next thing I knew, I had a new friend. Kas and I did everything together; we played, we explored, we bladed…"

Kenny looked up curiously at her. "You and Kasumi beybladed together? I thought you were a part of the Venomblades last year…" Thais glanced away shamefully.

"I was." She immediately whipped back to stare pleadingly at them. "But before you judge me, just listen to _my_ side! My cousin, who I hadn't heard from for _seven years_, had called out of the blue and asked for my company. I explained my situation to Kasumi, and though she was hurt, she let me go off to be with him because she knew that's what she would've done if it'd been her and Tyson. But the distance… it did something." Thais sighed again and wrung her hands together. "Kas met the girls that she'd end up forming the Guardias with, I spent time with the guys that would later make the Venomblades. Being on separate teams did something to our mentality that ended up hurting our friendship…" A bit sourly, she added, "Of course, the fact that no one, other than Kas and myself, particularly liked each other hadn't helped."

Kai quirked a brow. "Oh?"

"I'm sure you've already noticed, but Sonbre's… not very fond of women," Thais winced. "At all, really. I'm the exception because I'm family. Add in his crush on Tyson and the fact Kasumi could easily pass for him at first glance, and he's already more than a little annoyed at her."

"…Okay, that makes sense," Hiromi nodded.

"Then factor in the pressure the Guardias were putting on her to not fraternize with other teams, despite the fact she mentioned several times that she wanted to see how I was doing in the months we'd been apart," Thais added flatly.

Rei froze, blinking once. "This… sounds scarily familiar." Max nodded, also recalling the events of the team's first tournament together.

"Yeah, didn't your old team do something like that and tried to make _us_ look like the bad guys?"

"Hey, it isn't _my_ fault Lee's got abandonment issues!"

Kenny grumbled under his breath, "You could've at least left a note, though…" Rei huffed at him.

Thais rolled her eyes and dryly asked, "Did it end with the two team captains practically hating each other's guts, and you _still_ being scorned by the other team?"

Everyone blinked.

Hiromi frowned and her brow crinkled in surprise. "What? The other Guardias don't like you?"

"They're still convinced that I'm going to turn against Kas any day now!" The blonde explained heatedly, "I'm sorry, but it's been a _year_ – why haven't they gotten over it?"

Dulcea made a face. "Whoa. I haven't even met them yet and I don't think I'm gonna like them."

"Won't like who?"

Everyone jumped at the familiar voice, and turned to see Tyson and Kasumi coming through the door, the latter warily keeping behind Tyson. She blinked when her eyes fell on the dirty-blonde sitting on the couch. "Thais? Not that I mind, but what're you doing here?"

Thais got up from her seat and gingerly took the Japanese girl's arm, frowning when she saw the bruises coloring her wrist. "I knew Sonbre was hiding something when I dragged it out of him that you two got into another fight. I hope that moron realizes he's going to have to go easier on you, if he wants to stay in the tournament…" She sighed and looked at the dark-haired girl worriedly. "Do you need ice?"

Kasumi stared at her for a moment before smiling wryly. "Thay, it's okay. I was kind of asking for it, myself. I should know better by now than to bait him like that." She turned to the Bladebreakers as Tyson rejoined them, assuring them himself that he was all right. "Sorry I got you guys so involved in this."

"It's okay," Rei shrugged. "We're used to being dragged into strange things by now."

Kasumi's dry smile softened. "I'm glad Ty's got friends like you; he's really blessed to have you guys watching his back."

"Hey, he does the same for us." Max patted her on the shoulder. "We just return the favor."

Tyson looked back and forth between his friends and sister before cutting in with a hint of annoyance in his voice, "Happy as I am to see you guys interacting with my sister, could you _not_ talk like I'm not here?"

A loud beep outside caught their attention. Kasumi blinked at the vehicle parked in front of her home, recognizing the resort's logo emblazed on the side and idly wondering why it had come so late. "Huh. Guess Lina _did_ tell Cheres what happened… I know _we're_ not having any more meetings at my house."

"Yeah, it seems so…" Kenny sighed and shook his head. Something occurred to him and he looked at Kasumi. "By the way, did we ever catch your team's name?"

Kasumi's dry smile returned. "You mean I never told you? We're the Crossblades." The Asian teens stared at her in disbelief, causing her to laugh. "Ironic, I know. Well, you'd better head back to the resort and get some rest. You've had a long day."

"We should…" Tyson sighed before pulling the dark-haired girl into a hug. "Take care of yourself, 'kay?"

Kasumi stiffened at first, but relaxed and returned the gesture. "As long as you watch your own back." She pulled away and looked at him with a weak smile. "See you later."

The group then climbed into the taxi-van and slid the door shut. With that, the driver took his cue and drove off back to the resort.


End file.
